On the Other Side
by Eclipse89
Summary: A sequel to "Through the Looking Glass".
1. Chapter 1

**First** of all, if you haven't read all 150 chapters of **"Through the Looking Glass",** don't go any further. Read the first part first.

.

Now, about the sequel itself. It's **not a finished project** and won't ever be. I decided to abandon Mai's adventures sometime ago. I had eleven chapters stashed, though, and I'll share them with you. Treat them as bonus material please and have fun reading them. Don't ask me to write the full sequel or a bunch of new chapters, because I won't do it. It's a closed project and I'll be focusing on new ones. You may check out "King in the Outlands", my new fanfiction.

.

The sequel is up **for adoption**. If You have the will and idea to expand Mai's story, You have my permission to do it. All I want is to get a PM, so that I could advertise Your fanfic properly.

.

Have fun reading "Through the Looking Glass". I hope to entertain you with the 11 bonus chapters. Enjoy and You have my gratitude for Your marvelous support. I love you guys!

.

The uploads will begin in **October**. Sorry for making you wait, but I want to finish re-uploading the chapters of THLG first.

**EPILOGUE**

There is an entertaining epilogue to "Through the Looking Glass". I decided not to post it. I didn't want to create boundaries for the authors willing to adopt the sequel. You can still get it, however. All you need to do in order to read it is:

.

1\. Read the first arc (first 13 chapters) of "KING IN THE OUTLANDS", my new fanfiction.

2\. Review it. Multiple reviews will be appreciated.

3\. Review the last chapter of "Through the Looking Glass". If you did that already, tell me in PM.

4\. I'll send the Epilogue to you in PM.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

Author Note: You're about to read the first of eleven bonus chapters, which were supposed to be a part of "Through the Looking Glass" sequel. Enjoy!

.

.

Chapter 1

.

A year later…

Mai lifted the sleeve of her kimono to her face to hide a yawn, swaying, as though she was about to fall to the floor and start snoring. She prayed for the damn math class to be over at last. However, the hour dragged on like eternity, giving her impression, that she had been imprisoned here for more than six hours. The constant sound of scribbling made her feel sleepy, as this night she hadn't got much sleep. To be honest, she had felt like this for the last year. She rolled her eyes, cursing the culprit in her mind. She lifted her eyes to observe the children, who were writing the test with focus on their little faces. The young woman smiled at the familiar sight. Not long ago she was like those kids, just a schoolgirl, but now the roles reversed – she was the teacher.

After defeating Naraku and the horrible ordeal with the vengeful demoness Kasumi, Mai decided to prove herself useful and find a job, as her _dear _husband, Sesshomaru, reminded her of her dream of becoming a scholar. Thankfully, he wasn't that narrow-minded like other men of his era to deny her that and when she told him of her idea, he _kindly_ voiced his agreement. Now, that she was in the feudal era, she couldn't study in the university anymore, but she was set on doing everything she could, to make her old dreams come true. Besides, Mai wasn't this type of person, who is able to sit and do nothing. She needed a purpose. So she ended up founding a village school, where she taught children. At first Miroku and Kagome helped her out a bit, but soon she became completely independent and assumed the role of the teacher. The kids were divided in two classes – for beginners and advanced. Surprisingly, educating was very pleasurable for Mai.

Additionally, she was studying the history of feudal Japan, benefitting from Myoga's and Kaede's knowledge. When coming back from his numerous voyages, Sesshomaru always brought her scrolls and manuscripts as souvenirs, so she had something to entertain herself with, while her demonic husband was away, continuing his hobby of battling the other youkai. With Naraku dead, he kept searching for a worthy opponent to defeat, but he didn't achieve any success so far. Her life was blissfully perfect for the last year – she had a loving husband, although he still was an asshole sometimes, their new home was fully repaired and quite beautifully decorated, she had a job, she enjoyed, and a lot of friends. Never in her life she imagined, that the horrible adventure with the soul-switching mirror would bring her such happiness.

Mai was so deep in thought, that she almost didn't spot a skillful cheating-attempt. She squinted her eyes at the collaboration in the back of the class. There was no doubt – a rolled ball of paper just flew from a red-haired boy's hand to the desk of a girl, that was sitting nearby. The young teacher stood up and made her way towards the little cheaters.

"Shippo, Shiori, I saw that." She said harshly, glaring at the fox-demon and the hanyou girl. Shippo gulped, terrified and Shiori looked like she was about to burst in tears. Without a word, Mai took the sheets and marked both of them with a huge "F". The youkai moaned with despair and the girl only hung her head, embarrassed. The young woman examined the papers. It seemed, that Shippo was trying to help Shiori. He had done all the calculations with only small tiny mistake – the fox demon was her best pupil, the second one being Kohaku. The hanyou girl, on the other hand, was hopeless, when it came to math – to her it was like black magic. Mai sighed and looked at the kids. "Shippo, you won't help Shiori if you do the things for her. Maybe you should help her prepare for the next test? Shiori, try a little more. I'm sure, that you could do a little better with more effort." She said sending an encouraging smile to the girl.

"Time is up!" Mai announced finally and went to collect the papers from her twelve-person-class. Kohaku obediently handed her his sheet, having finished it sometime ago already. The girl nodded to him. The boy was gone from the village as well, helping people troubled by the demons, but every time he came to visit, he attended school. Mai suspected, that he was doing it mostly to keep Rin company. Speaking of the devil, the girl marched to Rin's desk and had to tear the paper from the younger girl's hands, as Rin was scribbling fervently.

"Rin, you have to hand it over." Mai scolded her gently. Rin sighed and let go of the paper, unhappy expression on her face.

"I didn't have time to finish the last one!" she whined. The girl was at most average, but she was gradually getting better, thanks to her hard work and the desire to make Mai and Sesshomaru proud of her.

The young woman finished collecting the papers and announced the end of the classes. The children quickly stood up and ran out of the small hut, which served as a school building, politely saying goodbyes to their teacher, before leaving. However, four kids remained inside, not eager to part with Mai.

Shippo sighed.

"Mai, you're going to tell Kagome about this… cheating?" Shippo asked cautiously, making puppy eyes. The girl smirked.

"Nope." She answered and observed, as the blissful smile was appearing on the fox-demon's face.

"I'm going to tell Inuyasha and add, that you need to be punished adequtely!" Mai said and Shippo's smile dropped from his face.

"Not Inuyasha! He'll punch me into oblivion!" the fox demon whined. Kohaku laughed and patted him on the back.

"Poor you." The young demon-slayer said with a wide smile. Mai noticed, that the boy was way more cheerful, than a year ago. It seemed, that with time he managed to cope with the burden of his past sins and lead almost a normal life as a nearly fourteen-years old boy. Kohaku leaned towards Shippo and whispered theatrically: "Shippo, why was you helping Shiori?"

"N… no reason!" the kitsune-youkai said quickly, too quickly.

"It's because you like Shiori, isn't that right?" Rin joined Kohaku in teasing poor Shippo.

Mai watched with amusement as both the fox demon and the hanyou girl flushed fiercely. Rin laughed and skipped to the young woman.

"Mai." She said, tugging Mai's sleeve. "Shiori's mother agreed, that I sleep in their house tonight. Can I? Please, please!" the child begged.

Mai rolled her eyes.

"Weren't you supposed to help Kaede out today in the shrine?" she asked the younger girl. "Kaede told me that the other day."

Rin's smile vanished from her face, as tears appeared in her eyes. Mai sighed heavily – the kid was becoming a better actress with each passing day. Well, the older girl decided, that Rin deserved a break once in a while. After all, the child was leading a pretty busy life – she was attending school every day, additionally Kaede was giving her a partial miko-training. Rin didn't possess any holy powers, but the old priestess taught her about herbs and how to be a mid-wife. Sesshomaru decided, that it would be good, if she has some practical knowledge.

"I'll tell Kaede, that today you're not coming." Mai said with a smile, grabbing the basket filled with various food – it was how the villagers were paying her for teaching their children.

"Thank you!" Rin squealed, hugging the older girl and ran to Shiori, dragging her outside. Mai also left, followed by the depressed fox-demon and Kohaku, who kept teasing the future greatest playboy of the village. The girl smiled, thinking how carefree the life after defeating Naraku was, just as it should be. Yawning, she made her way towards the shrine, passing by Miroku's and Sango's house.

"Kohaku!" Sango called, coming out of the wooden building and waving with a huge smile on her face. When her eyes rested on Mai, she gasped, as though she remembered something and returned to the house. After a brief moment, she ran out, carrying a big jar. Without any explanation, she dropped it into the basket.

"Sango! I told you, that you don't have to pay!" Mai protested, reaching to fish the item out and return it to the demon-slayer, but the older woman slapped her hand, shaking her head.

"Give it a rest Mai. Miroku got pickled cucumbers as a payment for the exorcism. Actually, we have four barrels of them and no idea, what we should do with such amount." She said, making Mai sigh with defeat and leave the damn cucumbers, where they were. Sango opened her mouth to say something else, but a loud cry interrupted her. After a while, another voice joined the first and created a chaotic choir. The demon-slayer sighed, bags under her eyes, when Miroku popped out from behind the door.

"Sango, I think, the twins are hungry!" he called to his wife. The demon slayer folded her arms.

"They don't need to have their diapers changed?" She asked and Miroku shook his head. Sango sent Mai an apologizing look and ran to feed her little milk-suckers.

The monk, now the model husband and father, winked to Mai.

"Mai, when you're going to join Sango?" she called with a mischievous gleam in his eyes, making a suggestive gesture around his belly. Mai blushed, embarrassed by the question. Again. Everyone kept asking her that since half of the year. They just couldn't give it a rest and understand, that she didn't want Sesshomaru to knock her up so soon, but she wished to enjoy them being two longer, wait a couple of years, make the school functioning perfectly and generally do everything in right time without haste.

"Mind your business, you baby-making machine!" she shouted back. Miroku only laughed.

Mai shook her head, and waved goodbye before continuing the walk to the shrine with Shippo. As she was approaching the Shrine, she already heard the proof, that Inuyasha was there too, as his insufferably loud yells were hurting her ears.

"KAGOME!" he shouted to his fiancée, as he was chasing the young miko, who was angrily stomping towards the shrine, the deep frown on her face. Mai had no idea, what was that about, but her friend looked pissed.

"I won't become an old bat!" Kagome snapped at the hanyou, glaring daggers at him, before clearing her throat. "Now, excuse me, but I need to take care of my miko-business. I have much to learn!"

With that words she turned on her heel and stalked away towards the Shrine, leaving Inuyasha with the disappointed and dismayed look on his face. Mai and Shippo exchanged glances, before joining the hanyou. The girl glanced at her depressed brother-in-law.

"What was that about?" she asked with curiosity. Inuyasha sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Kagome postponed the wedding." He confessed.

Mai arched her eyebrow.

"Again?" she asked, not surprised, that it happened.

"Which time it is? Fourth?" the fox demon asked, folding his arms and counting on his fingers. Mai also knitted her eyebrows, joining Shippo. She shook her head.

"I think it's fifth." She corrected the kitsune-youkai. The kid clapped his hands, remembering something.

"I guess, that's right. If you're counting that moment, when she nearly pierced Inuyasha's… you-know-what to the tree, yelling, that she's going to purify his dirtiness…"

Mai nodded.

"Oh, that time. I completely forgot that. It's six times then." She muttered, making Inuyasha even more depressed and humiliated. The hanyou's face had the exactly same shade as his fire rat – flaming red. He gritted his teeth and glared at his friends.

"That's enough!" he hissed out, pissed. "You don't have to remind me of that!"

Mai patted him on the shoulder with, faking concern.

"Be happy, that she missed. If she didn't, you'd have no chance to have kids in the future." She pointed out, making Inuyasha more embarrassed at the mention of the danger to his testicles. He sent a glare, but his sister-in-law only grinned more, amused by it – she grew pretty used to Sesshomaru's glares, so Inuyasha didn't impressed her in the slightest. Then, the hanyou smirked, as a witty reply somehow appeared in his not so sharp mind.

"At least I have something to pierce, not like your hubby." He said smugly, offending his brother again. "You know, the entire village hears, that he's shaking his hips every night and yet you two have no pups… Something's broken?"

Mai's amused smile fell from her face, as someone was butting in her sexual life again. Damn Inuyasha! He was being so witty now, but he had no guts to tell that in Sesshomaru's face. She narrowed her eyes, sent on returning the favor. She rested her hand on her hip, looking at her brother-in-law with disregard.

"At least I've got intimate life, not like someone else. How long you've been trying to get into Kagome's pants? For a year?" She mocked the hanyou, who's face turned red again. By the look in his golden eyes, Mai could tell, that his manhood shrank from her comment.

"But I want to marry her!" he protested faintly, the guilt all over his face, obvious to any observer. Mai arched her eyebrow.

"Maybe you want to that too, but Kagome told me, what you were trying to do first." The girl attacked, set on crushing Inuyasha's pride, so that he wouldn't make any more stupid comments about her own matters. As expected, the hanyou blushed fiercely, taunting Mai even more. She smirked evilly, before adding. "With details."

Inuyasha's eyes widened, pure bewilderment reflected in them.

"Umm…" Shippo cleared his throat, getting the attention of the both quarrelling parties. The young demon was even more flushed than Inuyasha and Mai combined and had the slightly bewildered look on his face – characteristic for a person, whose innocence had just been stomped on. Once he got the attention, he wanted, he spoke: "Seriously, stop, you two. I'm still a kid. I shouldn't hear such things."

"Oh." That was Mai's only comment. The silence was awkward, but fortunately the girl spotted Kaede, walking in their direction, what made her pretense to get out of the dumb situation and leave her idiot brother-in-law.

"Kaede!" she called, greeting the old miko and coming closer. "I wanted to tell you, that Rin won't be coming today."

Kaede nodded, leaning against her bow, which she used as a walking stick.

"She's spending the night at your house again?" the old woman asked.

Mai shook her head.

"I let her have pajama party tonight. The kid must have some fun from time to time. " the girl explained.

"I see. Be careful on our way home dear." Kaede said, before adding in a hushed voice: "Mai, if you need something to help you get pregnant, I have herbs..."

"Goodbye." Mai said firmly, in a way indicating, that she had no intention of hearing about neither herbs nor getting her pregnant. She forced a smile to appear on her lips and waved goodbye, before whirling around and stalking away. She let out an annoyed huff, as she was passing wooden shacks. Damn, why everyone was so insistent on her having babies! She was nineteen! She was still a teenager and she was in no hurry to motherhood. Sadly, no one except Kagome seemed to grasp it, despite her explanations. The medieval mentality was strong in the minds of her other friends. Mai readjusted the heavy basket on her arm and left the village, heading home. She passed a small coppice and she was already there.

The girl stopped in the gate, admiring her house. It was the second most impressive building in the village, right after the Shrine. It was not a luxurious palace, but a big, tidy home. The wall around the courtyard had been painted white, as well as the exterior of the house. The villagers helped to replace the old damaged roof tiles with the brand new ones, the wooden structure had been reinforced and renewed. Mai glanced at the garden, as she was crossing it. It was her source of pride – the flowers were in bloom, in the stone circle various herbs were grown. Now it was a perfect place to rest and feast the eyes on it.

Mai left her sandals before the entrance to the house and stepped in. She let out a sigh and dumped the heavy floor on the tatami mat – Sesshomaru made Jaken buy them, as well as a lot of best furniture. The girl's eyes rested on the walls, that were decorated with flower patterns. Nanako, Shiori's mum, painted them as the school fee. The girl smiled to herself and carefully checked the rooms, looking for Sesshomaru. However, the inu-youkai wasn't here. She shrugged her shoulders – her husband must had went on another trip. Actually, she was glad, that he was away, because she would finally have some time to sleep off. Somehow, he was unable to understand, that she needed much more sleep than him and often kept her awake till sunrise, occupying her with shamelessly erotic activities. It was extremely enjoyable, but if not those trips of his, she would become a zombie permanently. At least tonight she will catch up with sleeping.

"I'll sleep soundly all night!" she exclaimed happily, not bothering, that no one was listening.

However, that was not exactly true.

"I shall make sure, that you will not." Suddenly, she heard Sesshomaru's voice from the corner of the room.

Startled, she let out a scream and whirled around to see the demon, who had just sneaked into the house and gave her such a scare.

"Welcome home, _dear_." She said, as the inu-youkai strode across the room to embrace her.

"I am back." He said, gently pulling Mai closer to himself, as she wrapped her arms around his waist and smiled, content.

.

.

Author Note: Review, please! I'm dying to read your comments.

As for when the next update will be, I'll wait for you to review first, so don't be shy!

A new chapter of "King in the Outlands" is out. Give it a look.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

.

.

Chapter 2

.

Mai climbed on her toes and smooched her husband on his cheek, making him look at her with surprise and dissatisfaction, as he was clearly expecting more enthusiasm coming from her. He frowned, when she gently pushed him away and hurried to unpack the contents of the basket, she had brought.

He narrowed his eyes as his wife marched to the kitchen, completely ignoring his display of affection. After a moment, Sesshomaru followed her and leaned himself against the doorframe, so that he could see Mai without setting his foot inside the kitchen – it was Mai's kingdom and he would rather die than his male pride would let him step into the place reserved for women.

The girl began emptying the basket, putting everything on the large table, before deciding, which part had to be stored and what to use for making the dinner. After stuffing the jar with pickled cucumbers and a couple of other things into the storage room, she sighed and looked at her husband, who was glaring at her, obviously expecting something. However, today the certain "something" was only a thing, he could dream about. Calmly, she washed vegetables and began chopping them.

"Wasn't you supposed to be on a trip today?" Mai asked, not tearing her eyes off the chopped carrots.

"Tomorrow." Sesshomaru answered shortly, not happy, that she was giving him so little attention. His stare intensified. "Come to me."

The girl rolled her eyes and carried on with the chopping.

"I need to grade the papers today. I'll be busy." She made an excuse.

The demon furrowed his brows, as his claws grazed the wood of the doorframe. However, he was behaving like some vampire, who couldn't enter unless given a permission. With the difference, that even if being invited and dragged, Sesshomaru would never go into the kitchen. Mai suspected, that it was giving him an illusion, that his wife was a proper, obedient one, whose place is in the kitchen. Had he stepped inside, they would have made them equal in this matter. She shook her head, thinking, that her husband was adorably silly at times.

"Woman, stop making excuses and come to your husband." Sesshomaru kept insisting, his voice returning Mai to reality.

The girl sighed, tossing the chopped vegetables into a pot, filled with boiling water.

"I have work to do. Besides, I'm tired." She said, stirring in the pot.

"Perhaps you should quit if you are so tired." Sesshomaru suggested, only one thought occupying his mind. Mai glared daggers at him.

"I'm not tired because of my work, but because you!" she exclaimed angrily.

"Hn." The demon folded his arms with a cheeky look on his face, as though she had just complimented him. Unfortunately for Mai's hopes for a good rest, Sesshomaru was not the one, who got easily discouraged – he was persistent to the level of being a pain in the ass. "You will be tired tomorrow too, then. Now come."

The girl took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, calming herself. Damn, she wanted to whack the sex-obsessed jerk with the ladle and beat some common sense into his thick skull. She took another calming breath, as one wasn't enough.

"Maybe later." Mai was stalling, wishing, that Sesshomaru would let her cook the dinner in peace.

However, her husband had enough time to learn her usual tricks and wasn't falling that easy for them anymore.

"When?" he asked.

"Later." The girl responded immediately, giving an imprecise answer on purpose. She broke the eye-contact, seeing the impatient expression in Sesshomaru's golden eyes.

"Do not try to trick me, you damnable woman." The demon said, gracing his wife with an epithet.

"So you found out?" Mai more stated than asked, calmly adding herbs and spices to the pot, making a delicious soup. She heard the demon let out an irritated growl, but it didn't really bother her – as long as she was in kitchen, she was perfectly safe, for Sesshomaru would never brace himself and come inside for her.

"Woman!" The inu-youkai snapped, her defiance apparently starting making him mad.

"Keep dreaming." Mai said in a sing-a-song voice, flashing a cheeky smile at her husband before turning to stir in the pot again.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, being led by his wife to the brink of having the urge to throttle her. He glared at her back and flexed his fingers. Then, his hand moved, the green lightning whip sprouting out of the ends of his clawed fingers. One swift movement with his arm and it flew towards the unsuspecting woman. Mai screamed from surprise, as the whip entwined her waist. Before she realized, what was happening, Sesshomaru jerked his hand and his wife flew right into his direction.

"Ouch!" she breathed out, as her back collided with the demon's chest. He put his arms around her and smirked with satisfaction. Once the girl regained senses, she sighed heavily, as her mischievous husband leaned down to kiss her behind her ear.

"Sesshomaru." She said his name in a meaningful way, but he happily ignored it, carrying on with the caresses. "I said later."

Mai felt the demon's hands slip down to her hips, as he kissed the side of her neck. When the girl noticed, that he was already tugging at her kimono, she grabbed his wrists firmly.

"After I eat the dinner." She said harshly. Sesshomaru huffed with annoyance, but thankfully stopped. Reluctantly, he took his hands off and pulled back, freeing Mai from his clutches. She whirled around and kissed his cheek, expressing her praise for not insisting further. However, the demon didn't seem to be satisfied with this.

Actually, he was very displeased and was making the girl know it. The whole time, when she was cooking her soup, she could feel the piercing gaze on her back. When she was eating in the garden, in Sesshomaru's company, it got even worse. The demon was following the moves of the spoon warily, as though he was a cat hunting the pigeons. Mai had to force herself to swallow the spoonfuls of soup, even though it was tasty and she was hungry, because being watched like that was simply stripping her off her appetite.

"Don't stare like that." She scolded her husband. "If you want some of my soup, just ask."

"It is not your food I want." He replied immediately, sending Mai THE look. The girl yawned in response. She stood up and, having washed the dishes with Sesshomaru following her like a shadow, she seated herself in the main room at the low table. She took out the math papers and the writing utensils. Ignoring the ominous presence towering in front of her, she began grading papers.

"Woman." Sesshomaru said in a warning tone, but Mai didn't let herself be distracted, as she was reading another work and correcting the wrong calculations.

"After I grade these." She muttered, not tearing her eyes off the paper.

She had to use all of her concentration ability, as she was being observed by a certain youkai, who had seated himself at the opposite side of the table and kept glaring at her across it. Mai avoided lifting her head not to see the accusing look in her husband's eyes. No that she was neglecting him… He was just too vigorous.

Finally, after three long hours, she finished and organized the things on her desk.

"At last." Sesshomaru said after sitting motionlessly for such a long time. Before Mai had the time to think of another way to stall, he circled the table and scooped her into his arms, nearly running to the bedroom.

"Sesshomaru!" she protested, when he placed her on bed, before joining her and silencing with a kiss.

Her husband knew too well, how to coax her into surrender, when she was being hesitant. First, he gently brushed his lips against hers in light, innocent kisses, while embracing her in a not-too-intrusive manner. When she was okay with that, the caresses were being gradually intensified – Sesshomaru pressed his lips firmly against Mai's and he fluently lifted her and placed on his lap, bringing their bodies closer. The girl returned the kiss, wrapping her arms around Sesshomaru's neck. She reached to stroke the demon's long silver hair, taking her time to caress him between the pointy ears, what made him purr with satisfaction. As on the mark, both of them grew more aggressive and they deepened the kiss, their tongues clashing together. Mai nearly desperately pulled herself closer to Sesshomaru and he almost crushed her ribs in the embrace. One of his hands slipped under her kimono and impatiently made its way up her leg.

"Wait!" Mai exclaimed breathlessly, after suddenly breaking the heated kiss and pulling back. "After I bathe."

Sesshomaru made a face, as though he was just performing a mental face-palm.

"Hurry." He nearly growled, as his arousal had grown strong. Mai nodded, relieved, that he gave up so quickly and darted to the bathing room. Not that she was so willing to resist now, but she preferred to refresh herself first.

Quickly, as though she was fighting with time, she darted to the bathing room. She undid her obi with a jerky move and nearly tore her kimono off, leaving it to fall on the floor. Mai jumped into the tub and washed herself as fast as humanly possible, not wanting to make her sinfully handsome husband wait too long. She grabbed the towel and began wiping the water from her skin, when she noticed something.

"Shit!" she cursed loudly, seeing the glowing red lines on her belly, that looked like a big tattoo. She huffed from anger, realizing, that she had to keep Sesshomaru at distance today. Just, when he got her all aroused… "Damn."

Feeling disappointed and unsatisfied, she dressed, covering the cursed charm. Since her wedding it showed only two times before and it was the third. She never had told Sesshomaru of it and she had no intention to do so – if she did, her husband would surely make a good use of it and impregnate her as soon as possible. The charm turned out, quite unexpected, to be very useful, despite being creepy. Considering, that the whole year passed and she was still not pregnant, it was an effective contraceptive. In a condom-less-world it was a precious thing – it prevented her from getting knocked up before she was ready for the motherhood. Nevertheless, it sucked, that the mark had to show today.

Depressed, she marched to the bedroom. She opened the door and saw Sesshomaru, who was waiting for her on the bed, already naked. Mai sighed and went to bed. The anticipating smile fell from his face, when the girl dived under covers, still in her clothing.

"Goodnight." She mumbled and wrapped the covers tightly around her body, laying with her back to Sesshomaru.

The demon knitted his eyebrows in confusion, seeing her strange behavior. He made an attempt to warm her up by embracing her through the covers and light kisses on the neck, but Mai stopped him.

"I'm sorry, but a serious no." she said firmly, wriggling her neck out of Sesshomaru's reach. "I'm not feeling well."

Mai squeezed her eyes shut, feeling guilty for lying to her husband. But, her lie worked – her husband stopped trying to smooch her into oblivion and pull the covers down. Instead he loosened his hold on her, spooning her gently now. The girl smiled to herself, thinking, that Sesshomaru made progress in treating her properly. She reached for his hand and entwined her fingers with his in an innocent gesture full of love.

"Are you sick?" Sesshomaru asked, concern in his voice.

"No, I just need rest." Mai replied, falling deeper into his embrace. She sighed lightly, when her husband slipped under the covers and she felt the warmth of his naked body. The sleep deprivation was quickly doing its work, for the girl felt like melting in her husband's arms, as she was drifting off to the kingdom of sweet slumber.

"Perhaps you should visit the old bat." Sesshomaru's voice tore her and the sleep apart, when she was on the brink of dozing off.

"Old bat?" she repeated, remembering, who was graced by such a name both by Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. "You mean Kaede? Why should I visit her?"

"I spoke with her in the morning." The demon admitted, making Mai curious. "She promised to give you herbs for your ailment."

The girl furrowed her brows, still half-asleep and not linking the facts very well.

"There's nothing wrong with me." She stated, according to the truth, but her husband was set on delving deeper.

"I think it is." Sesshomaru shared his suspicions with her, making the girl baffled. What did he mean? She was totally fine – healthy, maybe she gained a kilo or two, but that was to be expected without a daily dose of marching.

"I'm fine." She protested. For a while, silence fell. It seemed, that the demon finished with her. Unfortunately it was just wishful thinking.

"We are married for a year and you are still without a child." He stopped beating around the bush and voiced his concern straightforwardly.

Mai stiffened at the mention of the issue and sighed heavily. The baby-problem was back. Again.

"Isn't it better that way? I think, that such matters shouldn't be hurried. We have plenty of time and I'm not feeling ready for having a baby yet." She explained her opinion.

Sesshomaru frowned, hearing it and suspicion began to sprout in him.

"Are you taking any potions?" he asked with disapproval in his voice. Mai rolled her eyes. Of course, she heard, that women were making some suspicious mixture, which caused miscarriages in early stages of pregnancy. Apparently rumors reached her husband too. Of course she had another way of keeping herself in a child-less state, but she didn't want to enlighten Sesshomaru.

"Not your business." She muttered.

Sesshomaru sat up abruptly.

"I am your husband! This concerns me as well!" he raised his voice.

Mai sighed, not eager to quarrel with her husband right now. She pulled herself to the sitting position and faced the demon.

"I know." She answered, still being patient and surprisingly calm, given her temper. "Please, understand, that I don't want to have kids yet. I'm too young for that! I just want to wait some time before deciding on a child."

Sesshomaru frowned.

"How long?" he asked, his face expressing his opinion on this matter – according to Mai's dear husband she should have had the second child on its way already. However, that was clashing with her own plans and expectations. She furrowed her brows, thinking at what age she could be mentally ready to become a responsible mother.

"Five, six." She said aloud.

"Months?" the demon asked.

"Years." Mai corrected him and silence fell, as both of them were staring at each other for a longer while.

"It is unacceptable. You will become infertile before that time. Besides, I want to see my son before year passes. It is your duty to give birth to my pup." Sesshomaru finally voiced his opinion on the matter.

Mai didn't respond to his demand, knowing, that it would only lead to argument. Her husband was sometimes horribly block-headed and simply refused to accept, that it was possible, that his opinion wasn't the only one. She decided to end the discussion in other way than screaming at her husband. She made her best poker face.

"Actually, dear, I'm not taking any potions. Maybe you have some problems with fertility?" she suggested innocently.

Sesshomaru glared at her.

"Hn." He snorted arrogantly. "Do not be foolish, woman. It is women's ailment."

Mai refrained herself from rolling her eyes at the medieval stereotype.

"You know what, in the future scientists will discover, that it was a mistake. Really, men are the ones, who are the infertile ones. And the scientists from my times are always right." She lied with completely straight face, before looking at Sesshomaru with fake concern. "Maybe you should visit Kaede."

"Foolishness." The demon muttered.

"That's absolutely true." Mai said, nodding, as though it would make her words more true. "Don't worry, though. I'm sure, that Kaede will help you."

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows, visibly less convinced, that he was right.

"Go to sleep, woman." He barked out.

Mai kissed him goodnight and laid down. Oddly, Sesshomaru seemed to be… distracted? Just before falling asleep, she heard Sesshomaru get up and start pacing around the room. She smirked to herself mischievously at her little prank – served him right for sprouting out such bullshit. In the morning she would tell him, that she was only joking.

.

.

.

Author Note:

I sense some marital problems brewing... Oh, I shouldn't be the one reviewing.

Did you enjoy reading the chapter? Let me know in the comments. Write me about your impression and thoughts. You know, the more reviews you give, the faster I'll update ;-)

Check out "King in the Outlands" if you haven't done it yet. I know that reading about lions may seem weird, but many readers are pleasantly surprised. Give it a look! There's an update today.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3

.

As the first rays of the rising sign invaded the bedroom Mai groaned and, completely against her will, got off the empty bed. She was roaming around the spacious house for a while, looking for her insufferable man, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Asshole." She muttered to herself, thinking that the jerk should have at least say goodbye before going to another trip. She gritted her teeth, angry. The trips of his were becoming longer and longer. In the first months of their wedded life he was out for a day, never more than two. However, now he could vanish for an entire week without a trace and was coming back with dissatisfied face, for he rarely managed to find himself even a weak opponent. Come to think of it, Inuyasha, Miroku and the demon-slayer siblings were complaining about the same thing – that there was much less youkai in the vicinity. Mai narrowed her eyes.

_No wonder – Sesshomaru probably murdered most of them already_, she thought.

She sighed and got ready for the next regular working day. When she was making her way to the school building, she saw villagers rushing to their fields. Everyone was greeting her with a smile and, of course, she returned the politeness. Mai quickened her pace and in a few minutes stepped inside the school.

With content she noticed, that everyone was present and already seated – it was a wonder, how obliging the kids in the feudal era were. For them, poor peasants, learning was not an unwanted obligation, but a desired privilege. Today she was teaching a group of beginners of various ages.

"Okay." She muttered and cleared her throat. "Where were we?"

Suddenly, a loud bang tore the silence and the ground trembled. The children instinctively laid flat on the ground, trembling. Mai rushed to the window to see, what had interrupted the class.

.

Sesshomaru was flying over the village, circling it. However, his sharpened youkai senses were not detecting any bigger youkai, except the inhabitants of the village. He frowned, displeased. To find an opponent, who would grant the dog demon some amusement and the much needed exercise, he would need to embark on a longer journey – the lands near the settlement seemed to be deserted. Moreover, further westwards was it even worse, for not only lacked the potential battling opponents, but also he smelled no youkai at all.

"Pointless." He muttered to himself, deciding not to leave today, after all. To satisfy his yearning for battle and adventure, he would have to leave his spouse for too long and that was not, what he wished for. First, he had to take care of producing offspring. As his insufferably stubborn woman was in the best age for a human to deliver a healthy child safely, Sesshomaru decided on proceeding with making their family bigger. Mai protested, as expected of her, but he knew better. She was against both marrying him and allowing him to take her virginity away, but later on she was not complaining. Surely once she held their pup in her arms, she would be happy.

The inu-youkai cursed in his mind, as his thoughts drifter towards the spat with the insolent woman. Sesshomaru flexed his clawed fingers, feeling the barely controllable need to release his anger upon some opponent, who would be able to stand ground for at least three blows. Furthermore, his muscles felt unused since Naraku had been defeated. Peaceful life could be fulfilling for humans and females, but not for Sesshomaru, who was a true warrior at heart. He needed to fight.

Then, the inu-youkai made an abrupt turn in the air, as he decided, who his sparring partner for today would be. He made his way towards the village and locked his opponent on.

"I want to learn to be a true miko first! Understand it at last!" Inuyasha's betrothed was yelling at Sesshomaru's foolish brother.

"But…" the hanyou began, but Kagome's counterattack was faster.

"Osuwari." The girl in miko's robes said firmly, making Inuyasha slam face-flat against the ground. "The talk is over."

The girl stalked away, huffing in a way, which was painfully familiar to Sesshomaru – his wife shared the improper attitude.

The dog demon landed before the hanyou, who was slowly standing up, groaning. Inuyasha glared at his older brother, visibly not happy to have him pop in at such time.

"What a pain in the ass." the half demon muttered, looking after Kagome, who was stomping towards the Shrine. He sighed and looked at Sesshomaru. "Hey, Sesshomaru, how the hell did you get Mai to marry you?"

The dog demon glanced at his brother and folded his arms.

"She had been blackmailed and thankfully had no say in this matter." Sesshomaru gave an honest answer, as it was already too late and pointless to hide his affection for Mai from the others.

Inuyasha furrowed his brows, deep in thought. A creak could be almost heard, as the rusty wheels in his head began turning.

"Maybe I should do the same…" he was wondering aloud, apparently growing more desperate to be joined with his woman in the marital union. Sesshomaru could perfectly understand his haste, but Inuyasha's thinking had a major flaw.

"I would not recommend it." The dog demon gave Inuyasha a brotherly advice.

"Why? It worked for you." The hanyou asked. Sesshomaru arched his eyebrow.

"I do not have beads of subjection around my neck." He mercilessly crushed the half-demon's hopes.

Inuyasha sighed heavily, painfully aware of that fact. Then he looked at his older brother, as though her noticed his presence just now.

"What do you want with me, you bastard?" he snapped at Sesshomaru, eyeing him suspiciously.

The dog demon scowled at the insult and laid his hand on Bakusaiga's hilt. Slowly he drew the fearsome blade, glaring at his opponent.

"Let us see, whether you will die of my hand today." The inu-youkai said, smirking evilly.

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted, jumping back and ripping out Tessaiga. "You wish! I'm killing you first!"

The identically battle-heated gazes of two pairs of golden eyes met and the same confident smirks appeared on the brothers' faces. Then, as on the mark, both of them leapt forward and the brutal fight began. Neither of them was using the powers of demonic blades – they were slashing, parrying each other's blows. The swords were clashing again in again, as the siblings kept searching for weak points in defense and trying to deliver a finishing blow, without success. By now Sesshomaru and Inuyasha knew perfectly each other's style of fighting and abilities, so that predicting any attack was a child's play. Unfortunately, slashing the sparring partner was impossible as well – during the uneventful year, having no one better to fight, the brothers learnt so much about each other's techniques, that the battle almost always ended in a draw.

"Shit!" Inuyasha cursed, as Sesshomaru managed to knock Tessaiga out of his hand, using his whip. The hanyou barely avoided being slashed in two and looked around, searching for his sword. Unluckily for him, the blade was out of reach – he would never retrieve it before his older brother attacked. Sesshomaru noticed that too and smirked.

"Are you getting old, Inuyasha? Your reflexes are poor." The dog demon mocked the hanyou, while sheathing Bakusaiga – it was more entertaining, when the chances were even.

The half-demon let out a furious growl at Sesshomaru's comment and clenched his fists, readying for a brawl.

"And you're an impotent!" Inuyasha returned the insult, using the word, he had heard from Mai once.

.

"No looking out of the window, everybody. Open your textbooks to page six. Azumi, start reading." Mai said in a calm voice, absolutely ignoring the loud noise coming from outside, as two mononoke were brawling like kids in a grade school. Not that she blamed her husband for that. Not at all – at least we would blow off some steam and hopefully become more bearable for the rest of the day.

"Hi-ro-shi w-was sa.. se… selling his c-crops." The thirteen-year old Azumi was stuttering, as she read the text from one of the textbooks, prepared by Mai, Miroku and Kagome. Mai smiled to the child encouragingly and made a gesture, urging the girl to continue. She was doing better than last time and just needed more practice.

"A…" Azumi made a long pause, helplessly staring at the long words, gathering her strength to battle with it, as the sounds of real fight were keeping her from concentrating. "M-mer… che… cha… Merchant."

Mai let out a relieved breath, when the noise stopped. Apparently those two idiots had enough socializing with each other for one day.

"Go on." She said to the child in an ultimate teacher-like tone. Azumi nodded and carried on reading. Then, another kid read the next paragraph. When the third one was about to begin, there was another interruption.

The door to the school building flew open and then closed with a loud slam. The children curiously craned their necks, wanting to see the newcomer. Mai stood up and was about to reprimand the intruder harshly, when she saw, who it was.

"Hide me!" Jaken squeaked, looking around nervously, as though he had been chased. Before Mai had enough time to answer, the imp ducked under her teacher's desk, taking cover. The girl blinked at the strange sight.

"What the…" she began, but the commotion in the class diverted her attention. The children left their places and ran to the windows, observing something with excitement and pointing at it with their fingers. Mai groaned, feeling like slamming her head against the wall.

"What again?" she huffed, pissed, that she wasn't able to finish the class peacefully because of all the imbeciles, inhabiting this village. She stalked to the window and peeked, what made the kids that excited.

The villagers were gawking at the unusual sight, more interested and intrigued than scared. Nevertheless, they were getting off the dusty road, as the procession of strange creatures was making its way through their village. In any other human settlement people would scream from panic and hide in their houses, barring the doors and windows, preferably grabbing some farming tools as weapons. However, this place was different, as the inhabitants got used to the presence of youkai, who were living among them, protecting their village or attending the village school with their children. Besides, if any violent demon would threaten the people of the settlement, surely Sesshomaru and Inuyasha would annihilate them in a matter of seconds. Noticing, that both of the brothers were observing the procession with a certain dose of curiosity instead of attacking, the villagers relaxed too, looking at the creatures.

The newcomers were small youkai, of the size of a six-year old child. They were not big, but there was many of them – fifty, maybe sixty. Judging by their varying attires, there were males and females in all ages, form crying newborns to bent in half elderly. The procession was being opened by a sedan-chair, carried by six demons and surrounded by the ones, who had small armor and fitting spears. On the sedan-chair was seated, beyond all doubt, a woman. She was dressed in a kimono white as snow. Her head was covered with a white cloth and she had her eyes lowered modestly, so that her face remained hidden. It was a bride.

As the procession in white approached Sesshomaru and Inuyasha, who were standing still, slightly breathless and bruised, the demons stopped. The bride lifted her head and spoke.

"Greetings to you, honorable Sesshomaru-sama." The woman bowed deeply before the dog demon. "We've heard, that your enemy has been defeated. Therefore, I beg you, Sesshomaru-sama, relieve my betrothed off duty, so that he could finally marry me!"

Silence fell after her words, as the whole village was observing it like a Spanish soap-opera.

"Take him." The dog demon said after a while – he decided, that getting rid of his pestering servant could be a fine idea, especially, that Jaken had the habit of appearing uninvited at his household in the most inappropriate moments. Surely having his own spouse would do him well.

"Thank you!" the bride exclaimed happily and the imps began cheering and clapping, expressing their gratitude. The woman in white was beaming with excitement. "Now, where is Jaken-dono?"

Silence fell. Then, Inuyasha lifted his arm and pointed with his clawed finger at the school building.

"He's hiding there." The hanyou didn't hesitate to betray Jaken.

The sedan-chair was lowered and the imp bride stepped to the ground. Then she made her way towards the school, being flanked by a couple of other imps.

Mai shook her head, amused by the sight. It seemed, that in the end no one would manage to escape love…

"Don't tell her, that I'm here!" Jaken whispered desperately from his hiding place.

Seconds later the imp bride stormed inside and looked around, scanning the room. Then she glanced at the person, who looked like she was in charge, namely Mai.

"Hello. Nice to meet you again." The imp girl said sweetly, smiling. The human woman returned the politeness.

"Hello, Hotaru. Good to see you too." Mai replied. "If you're looking for Jaken, I won't tell you, that he's hiding under the table."

Hotaru's eyes gleamed with determination and, much to Mai's and the children's amusement, she rushed to retrieve her fiancé, forcefully dragging him from under the table. Jaken was protesting, but the girl's desire to get her hands on the beloved man was not to underestimate.

"Jaken-dono, Sesshomaru-sama agreed on our marriage, isn't that wonderful?" Hotaru exclaimed, beaming with happiness, ignoring the other imp's defiance.

Jaken had bewilderment in his yellow round eyes. He was nervously glancing sideways, as though searching for an escape route, but the bride was holding him firmly, not stopping to smile.

"Hotaru, can't we… postpone it?" the imp whimpered, looking at his fiancée's enthusiasm with pure horror on his face.

"Don't be silly, Jaken-dono." Hotaru scolded him gently. "We had to wait so long, that I couldn't wait any longer! Besides, I have my wedding kimono on and everyone is here. We can marry right now! Just like that!"

Mai winced, seeing Jaken panicking. Her green friend was sweating like crazy, looking like a wild animal in a trap. Actually, she understood him a bit – she had been in the same situation a year ago. Maybe the imp would have his happy ending as well?

"Congratulations, Jaken! I'm happy for you!" she called after the imp, who was just being dragged away by his future wife.

"You traitor!" Jaken squeaked. He struggled to set himself free, but Hotaru kept him in a surprisingly strong steel grip, not letting him escape this time.

In the meantime Jaken's kindred were already making the preparations. It was unbelievable, that the imps had an altar, along with the decorations ready. They unrolled several big carpets and set up wooden poles with colorful ribbons attached to them, in a blink of an eye changing the middle of the dusty village street into a wedding hall. The villagers, who gathered to gawk at the strange scene, gasped with amazement, bringing their children closer, so that the little once could better see the once-in-a-lifetime spectacle. An elderly imp scrambled towards the center of the carpet, along with his two female assistants, who got the wedding sake and cups ready. The green youkai women and children took out small bouquets of flowers and scattered the fragrant petals along the way, which the bride and the groom would take in a moment. Jaken squeaked with panic, when a couple of imps fished flutes out of their sleeves and began playing music.

"Don't be impatient, Jaken-dono." Hotaru said to the unwilling groom in a calming voice, taking Jaken's reluctance to part with his bachelor's life for eagerness. "In a moment we'll become husband and wife. And then…"

Everyone winced, mentally raped by the image of what the both imps could be doing after the wedding ceremony. Mai shook her head, not wanting to lose last scraps of innocence, for Sesshomaru took care of most of it. Thinking of Sesshomaru… The girl craned her neck and looked around, searching for her husband. But, he vanished. She sighed, suspecting, that such a crowd was too much for him – not only the imps were here, but the whole village as well, including all her friends, who joined the crowd in the meantime. Mai pushed her way through and took place by Kagome's side. Inuyasha, Miroku and his whole family were here. Even Rin came along with Kaede.

"Mai, what's happening?" the kid asked, confused by the commotion.

"Jaken's getting married." The older girl explained with a wide amused grin plastered across her face.

"Seriously?" Rin gasped, craning her neck to take a better look at the groom, who seemed to be on the brink of breaking in tears. Probably the only thing, that prevented him from escaping was the fact, that Hotaru disarmed him, giving Nintoujou to the imp priest for safekeeping. The green guards, who were pointing their spears at Jaken could also have a part in keeping him in place.

"I can't believe, that Jaken is getting married faster than I am." Inuyasha muttered with a gloomy face, earning a harsh look from Kagome and Mai rolled her eyes, taking the miko's side. Her brother-in-law was just too dumb to understand, that his fiancée came from other time with different customs. Getting married as a teenager and making babies right away wasn't exactly the realization of Kagome's ambitions. She loved the hanyou dearly, but she needed some more time to accustom to the perspective of living her entire life in the feudal era – she just needed some more time. Besides, she wanted to complete the proper miko-training first. As a fellow 21st century girl, Mai got that point of view – she wasn't a fan of teen pregnancy either. Unfortunately, all their friends didn't seem to share the same indulgency and kept insisting on Kagome marrying him right away, in a way, resembling Sesshomaru's impatient behavior at times.

Then the elderly imp, who was supposed to conduct the unexpected wedding ceremony, coughed meaningfully. Everyone instantly stopped talking among themselves, focusing on the wedding. It seemed, as though the inhabitants of the village and the imps held their breaths. The imps, who were guarding Jaken, poked him with the sharp ends of their spears, ushering him to go. Hotaru was gliding gracefully, the blush in the shade of dark green, adorning her cheeks, and bliss, sparkling in her eyes. Jaken wasn't neither that calm nor happy. As he was making his way towards the altar, his knees were buckling violently. When the pair had been finally seated and the priest gave a much shortened speech, the groom changed the color of his skin to very light green, apparently paling from all the stress.

Then the priest filled the cups with sake. Mai was curious, how will go with that one. It turned out, that Hotaru managed to overcome this obstacle too. She grabbed Jaken's palms and glued them to the cup, securing them with her own, so that the groom couldn't drop it, even if he wanted too. Next, she clearly forced Jaken to drink his sips.

"The vows." The imp priest announced, as though he was oblivious, that one of the parties was being forced.

Jaken gawked at the old imp, then at Hotaru, terrified. His nearly-wife offered him a sweet smile.

"Sesshomaru-sama wants you to marry. You don't wish to disobey him, do you?" She whispered, blackmailing her groom. Jaken gulped, as the possible scenarios of his death played in his mind.

"We … w-we h-have… " he began stuttering the words of the wedding vow.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

Review, dear muffins! Please leave me tons of comments, because I'm very curious if you like the chapter.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

.

.

Chapter 4

.

.

"We … w-we h-have… now be…" Jaken had tears in eyes while trying to recite the words of wedding vow. However, they weren't the tears of joy. Quite the opposite – he sent Mai a look, conveying the silent plea for help, but she only gave him thumbs up.

The imp priest cleared his throat, wriggling eyebrows and giving a sign for the groom t finally get over with the vows. Jaken gulped.

"… become a h-h-husband…" once the imp managed to cough out the last word, his eyes nearly gauged out from distress at the realization, that the end of his freedom was nigh.

The whole village was holding their breaths, waiting for the imp to finally finish the short vow. All eyes were set on the most amusing show, so that no one noticed, that a threat was approaching. That is, no one except Inuyasha. The hanyou furrowed his brows and sniffed the air, reaching for Tenseiga. Kagome glanced at her fiancé, who was tense and ready to draw his sword.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" Kagome asked quietly. But, before the hanyou answered her, Sango spoke.

"I can sense it too." She whispered nervously, hugging her three-months-old daughter tighter.

"Now I can too." Kagome muttered, regretting, that she didn't have her bow and arrows.

Mai wrinkled her forehead, confused. Everyone seemed to be sensing something – Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Miroku, even Kohaku. However, with the complete lack of any useful powers or sharpened youkai senses, she hadn't noticed anything out of place.

"Hey, what…" she was about to ask, when suddenly panic erupted, ruining the cheerful atmosphere of the wedding. Someone pointed at the sky and all the eyes looked up, seeing a blurred trail crossing the sky above their heads, closing to the village at the unbelievable speed. Inuyasha ripped Tessaiga out of sheath and Kagome took one of the twins from Miroku's hands. The monk took out his ofuda and positioned himself before Sango and the children, ready to defend his family. The people started screaming from fear, as they began fleeing. Most of them were darting to the nearest huts, barring themselves inside. The villagers were trampling each other, wanting to get out of danger's way as quickly as possible.

Mai brought Rin closer to herself, nervous. She hoped, that Inuyasha would be able to take care of it on his own. Actually, she was a little bit worried. Since Naraku's demise a year ago, the hanyou hadn't fought any serious opponents. He may have been a little out of practice… _Damn, where is Sesshomaru, when you need him?_ – the girl thought, observing the approaching threat.

The streak of light fell upon the village like a meteor, crashing right in the middle of the makeshift wedding hall. Hotaru screamed, as the force of impact threw her and the imp priest away. She frantically looked for Jaken, when she realized, that he must have been hit by the lighting ball.

Mai gasped, when the light dissolved, and showed a silhouette of the one, who was standing in the middle of the chaos. The girl's eyes widened.

"Oh no." she whispered with despair. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes and gripped the hilt of the sword tighter.

"Ouch." Everyone heard Jaken's whining from under the feet of the newcomer. The person didn't even glance down, but casually began striding forward, stepping off from the imp groom.

"Come closer and I'll kill you!" Inuyasha yelled a warning, but the person didn't grace him with a single look, searching for someone else. Mai stiffened, feeling the piercing gaze on herself.

"Hello, girl."

Mai clenched her fist, not eager for a confrontation.

"Hello, mother-in-law." She replied, making everyone gasp. Inuyasha and the others were staring at the demoness, slowly coming to the conclusion of who the woman was.

Lady Sayuri, not bothered by the impression, her entrance made, calmly glided towards Mai, ignoring the stares. She stopped before the girl and scanned her up and down for a long time before speaking.

"You are still flat." The female inu-youkai stated, pointing at Mai's belly and frowning with dissatisfaction. "You should be eating properly. Remember, you must give birth to a healthy pup."

The girl's face turned red, as her most private matters were being discussed before the entire village, by her mother-in-law at that.

"Still, it is alarming, that your womb is empty. Has my son not tried to pup you?" Lady Sayuri kept inquiring, making Mai's embarrassment bigger.

"It's our business. Stay out of it." The girl mumbled, giving her bossy mother-in-law a warning look. However, the demoness was as difficult to discourage as Sesshomaru. Lady Sayuri wrinkled her forehead.

"Of course it concerns me. We speak of the future successor of the clan." The female inu-youkai retorted. Then she looked around. Her gaze slid over Inuyasha, but she said nothing, as though it was not even worth commenting. "Where is my son? I desire to speak to him urgently."

Mai clenched her fists, pissed, that even her bitchy mother-in-law came to nag about her getting knocked up. Seriously, didn't those people understand, that private means, that they should stay away from it?!

"Girl. Where is Sesshomaru?" the demoness demanded again harshly. Mai furrowed her brows, also wondering, where her husband's whereabouts were. Considering, that the youkai mother-in-law couldn't sniff him out, he must have been at home. In the garden the girl was growing a lot of scent-masking herbs, just in case they could be useful in the future, so it may dull the demon sense of smell slightly. Sesshomaru was complaining about it all the time.

"Probably…" she began, but her husband was faster to make his appearance. The blue lighting ball landed right between lady Sayuri and Mai. Once it dissolved, Sesshomaru glanced at his wife, who seemed to be upset, and glared at his mother. Her mere presence was a bad sign, as she was never the one to pay unexpected visits.

"What are you doing here?" he asked dryly, making the demoness frown at his rudeness. For a while she was glaring back, two pair of identically cold golden eyes locked in a silent battle of wills.

"I require a favor from you." Lady Sayuri stated her matter, not beating around the bush. Sesshomaru furrowed his brows, not pleased by those words.

"I have kept my part of the agreement. Keep yours and do not bother me anymore." The inu-youkai said in a tone, which hinted, that the discussion was over. Inuyasha and the rest narrowed their eyes, curious. Not only the mere arrival of Sesshomaru's mother was an event, but also some secrets were about to be revealed.

Lady Sayuri didn't stop glaring at Sesshomaru, as she arched her eyebrow, expressing doubt.

"You still have a pup to produce, Sesshomaru. Did you forget that? Until there is your child in the human girl's womb, I will not consider the agreement fulfilled." She stated firmly, ignoring the frown on her son's face and Mai's embarrassment, as well as the stares of the onlookers. Satisfied, that she managed to make clear, that the male inu-youkai still owes her, she decided to proceed. "I do not care what you think of it, but you are the head of the Dog Clan, at least figuratively. As such, you have some duties. I have come to demand you to fulfill one of them."

Silence fell, as Sesshomaru glared at his mother, anger in his eyes. Lady Sayuri kept her calm, casually readjusting the elegant furry uchikake, waiting for an answer. The atmosphere was so thick, that it could be nearly sliced with a knife. Even birds seemed to sing quieter than usual.

"You have come for nothing. Go back and do not try to drag me into your affairs." The dog demon responded.

"Quit behaving like a pup!" Suddenly lady Sayuri raised her voice, publically scolding her son. Apparently her patience ended. She closed the distance between herself and Sesshomaru with two long strides and glared at him with challenge in her golden eyes. "You are too irresponsible! Now stop giving me such a look and obey my request. Do not fear, Sesshomaru, I am not a cruel mother. I guarantee, that you will not dislike the favor, I will ask of you."

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows, as Mai did, both of them eying lady Sayuri with suspicion.

"What favor are you speaking of?" the female inu-youkai asked, still behaving in a hostile way. However, the demoness flipped his attitude off.

"I need you to investigate." She stated shortly.

"Investigate?" Mai asked, not giving Sesshomaru a chance to respond. Lady Sayuri nodded, the look of concern appearing in her eyes.

"Recently, the number of the youkai from the clan's territory decreased. A lot of our allies vanished without a trace and I do not know the reason for this. Undoubtedly you have noticed it as well." She said, looking at her son, as though she was reading his mind. "The demons are disappearing. If it continues, not only the future of our clan will be endangered, but the whole kind as well. Sesshomaru, I need you to find the one, who is behind this and destroy him before it is too late."

The dog demon didn't respond right away, occupied by considering her mother's words. Before looking at his mother, he stole a glance at his wife.

"You wish me to set off to this quest?" he asked slowly, calculating all the possible repercussions. Lady Sayuri noticed the brief look at Mai – such things never escape an attention of a mother. The reason her son was hesitating was obvious.

"Yes, you will need to go on a journey. I do not know, how long it would take though. You may take the girl with you, but keep in mind, that you will be facing an unknown threat. The risks may be high."

Sesshomaru neither said 'yes' or 'no', deep in thought. His gaze was set somewhere in front of him, not seeing any one of the gathered. Then the two pairs of golden eyes met. Lady Sayuri nodded.

"I will take my leave then." She said quietly. She glanced at Mai's flat stomach once again and shook her head with disproval. Then, she gazed at Inuyasha, who was still standing with his sword lowered, but unsheathed. The hanyou was glaring at the demon woman, as though expecting her to attack. Lady Sayuri tilted her head, studying Inuyasha with her piercing cold eyes. The corners of her lips twisted up a little, but it was impossible to define whether in a mocking smirk or a genuine smile.

"You look a lot like your father, my late husband." She stated, examining the hanyou's face. Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprise. Perhaps he expected the demoness to be hostile towards the Inu no Taisho's bastard son, but there was no malice in her voice. Moreover, her eyes softened, as though she was recalling some fond memories. Then she frowned. "Such a reckless man he was… Always acting first, thinking later, as though he had empty space between ears. Dragging that fool Myoga with himself… definitely bad company. And he was terribly loud, always yelling. It was really annoying. I hope, that you did not inherit this trait, did you, boy?"

Mai observed, as Inuyasha's face turned just as red as his fire rat robe. The blush even managed to cover the furry ears on the top of his head. Actually, this was the only time she heard someone saying something bad about Sesshomaru's father, for everyone always only talked of Inu no Taisho in superlatives. Apparently the famed Dog General was less perfect, that he appeared. The girl barely refrained herself from giggling.

Lady Sayuri wasn't finished with the hanyou yet.

"What is your name, boy?" she asked in a demanding voice.

"Inuyasha." The half-demon relied, surprisingly shyly for him. Perhaps he was too embarrassed to put up the fuss.

"Inuyasha?" the female inu-youkai repeated, arching her eyebrow. "I take, that it was your father, who chose the name."

The hanyou nodded, as this was what his mother Izayoi had told him. Lady Sayuri sighed, shaking her head with dismay.

"That imbecile had foolish ideas regarding the names for children." she muttered to herself. Everyone blinked in disbelief and the two half-brothers started looking uneasy.

"Mother," Sesshomaru spoke, annoyance showing on his face. "I believe, that you should leave at last."

The demoness sent her son an emotionless look.

"Farewell, Sesshomaru. Remember, the time is of the essence." She said and a ball of purple light engulfed her, creating a lightning ball around her frame. It darted past the gathered crowd and soon was out of sight, much to Sesshomaru's and Inuyasha's relief. Mai breathed out with a certain dose of it too, but the mother's-in-law words made her worried. It seemed, that the peaceful days could be over soon. Before she knew it, her husband snatched her hand and dragged her away from the procession, leading them home. Rin trotted after the pair too, concern reflecting on her childish face. During the whole walk they didn't exchange a word, but Mai saw, how troubled her husband was.

"I'll make tea!" Rin exclaimed once the three of them reached their destination and darted into the house, leaving Mai and Sesshomaru alone.

The demon looked over the wall at the old trees, unsure, what to do – he was torn between pursuing adventure and staying home with his beloved wife. He yearned to travel again, not to mention, that his mother was right, even though it was not easy to admit – that was his duty. There was an enemy to defeat and he, Sesshomaru, should be the one to do it. However, he did not want to endanger his wife. A year ago he had nearly lost her, which made him realize, how precious to him she was and how fragile a human life is. During the last journey, for the hunt for Naraku, he had Tenseiga, which could be used in the case of emergency. But, Totosai had confirmed, that the sword no longer existed. Should he took Mai along, she could die.

"Sesshomaru," his wife interrupted the battle with thoughts, gently laying her small palm on his arm in a calming gesture. "I think you should go."

Mai smiled encouragingly at him. She knew, that tying the dog demon down wouldn't do anything good – it was against his nature. Besides, he wasn't the only one, who was bored. Even though she was working as a village teacher, the girl missed the crazy adventures a little.

"I guess, that I'll need about two days to get everything ready and then we can set off." She said, in her mind picturing travel logistics already. She was making a mental list of all useful items – clothes, cosmetics, medicines and many more. However, the smile fell from her face, when Sesshomaru shook his head.

"Not this time." He said, solemnly looking in her eyes. "I will go alone."

Mai stared at him in disbelief.

"But… it could take months!" she protested. "Last time you were travelling for two years. You can't leave me for that long!"

Sesshomaru kept staring at the damn trees, refusing to make eye-contact with her.

"You will stay, woman. This Sesshomaru is not going to change his mind." The demon stated firmly.

"No way!" Mai exclaimed defiantly, circling around him, so that she was standing right in front of Sesshomaru. She rested her hands on her hips. "I don't care if it's dangerous, I'm going with you!"

"You are not." The demon kept insisting. The girl frowned, not having any intension to let him have an upper hand in such a crucial matter.

"You're taking me along, just face it!" Mai kept making a fuss. Sesshomaru finally looked at her. Glared to be precise.

"You are staying, you insolent woman. If have to tie you down, I will not hesitate to do so!" he raise his voice, trying to make his wife submit. She glared back, straightening her back, so as to appear a little bit taller.

"Good luck trying, you asshole!" she screamed in his face, now more pissed. "If I'm not going, neither are you!"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at her, dangerous sparks gleaming in them.

"Be silent and listen to your husband, you insufferable woman! Or I shall gag you as well!" he bellowed at Mai.

"Take me with you!" she shouted back.

"No!" The dog demon refused.

Rin went out of the house, carrying a teapot and cups. The little girl rolled her eyes at the sight of Mai and Sesshomaru-sama arguing. She shrugged her shoulders and went back to the house, deciding, that someone had to keep the head cool and do, what had to be done.

"That is enough!" Sesshomaru growled at Mai and swiftly trapped her in the tight embrace. Surprisingly enough, the woman stopped fussing and put her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. The demon combed her brown locks with his clawed fingers and leaned down to inhale her pleasant scent. Mai closed her eyes, feeling the gentle touch. For a moment they stayed like this, embraced, both of them wishing, that it could last forever.

"I love you." The girl whispered, squeezing her eyes shut, as tears began welling in her eyes. She understood, why Sesshomaru didn't want to take her along, but still… she didn't want to part with him, no matter how dangerous the journey would be.

"Stay safe, Mai." The inu-youkai said quietly, before pulling back. Mai looked at him with surprise and restlessness.

"Don't say that you're leaving _now_!" she exclaimed, scared, because Sesshomaru's words sounded like a goodbye. The demon didn't answer, but it was enough for Mai to learn about his intentions. "No, not so soon! Stay at least a couple of days."

The inu-youkai looked uneasy.

"The sooner I depart, the faster I return." He said, barely being able to look at his wife, who looked, as though she had been just slapped. To be honest, Sesshomaru was not sure, whether he would be able to leave at all, if he stayed any longer at Mai's side. However, he had the duty and she understood. He lifted his hand to her face and cupped her cheek, tracing the soft skin with his fingers. He leaned down and kissed her gently, saying goodbye in such way.

Then, he pulled back and leapt into the air. Their eyes met for one last time and Sesshomaru flew away, leaving Mai alone in the big household. _How empty it will be without him_, she thought with sadness.

.

.

.

Author Note:

Have you liked the chapter? Do you wish to get another one right away? Please, review and I'll send you virtual cupcakes in return. I'll thank you too.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

**LEMON WARNING**: This chapter contains a very explicit scene. If you're not comfortable with it, skip it.

.

.

Chapter 5

.

.

"Everything's ready!" Rin exclaimed cheerfully, as she barely managed to drag a large sack outside – it had been filled with everything, she considered useful – food, some clothes, a rope, soap, knifes, a small pot and cups. In short, the child in a matter of five minutes made preparations for a journey, that could last months. Rin looked around, searching with her eyes for Sesshomaru, but he was no longer there. Mai was standing in the middle of the garden. When the older girl looked back to glance at Rin, the child saw tears glistening in her eyes.

"Sesshomaru-sama left already?" Rin more stated than asked, surprised, that it happened so fast. Mai nodded and sighed heavily.

"That stupid dog!" she cursed her husband for leaving her behind. Rin sat on her heels, equally worried and disappointed, that Sesshomaru hadn't taken her as well. The older girl sighed again and went to sit with her little foster sister. After a while Mai spoke. "He'll never do investigating right."

Rin nodded.

"Sesshomaru-sama is strong, but…" the child didn't finish but both of them perfectly knew, what she wanted to say – Sesshomaru was more into brutal strength and wasn't very effective in performing tasks, which required more…. wit.

"He won't manage without us." Mai was convincing mostly herself, but Rin accompanied her in that.

"He needs us." The younger of girl stated. The both females exchanged glances, communicating without words. At the same time, they jumped in their feet and grabbed the heavy sack, lifting it with by joining their strength.

"So… where's Ah-Un?" Mai asked the child. Rin flashed a slightly mischievous smile at her.

"On the clearing nearby, I guess." The kid answered and the two equally stubborn girls made their way to the clearing on the oak forest near the house. Both of them had identical determined expression on their faces, as though they were readying themselves to defeat a thousand opponents each. They didn't manage to get too far, before a shriek disturbed the peace of the wood.

"Sesshomaru-sama! Take Jaken with you, Sesshomaru-sama!"

Mai and Rin turned around at the sound of Jaken's voice. The older girl tilted her head, seeing the imp running like Ussain Bolt in their direction. He started braking about five meters earlier, but still he didn't manage to reduce his amazing speed to zero and crashed into the sack, which worked like an airbag.

"Ouch." He moaned, slowly getting himself back on his feet. He looked around and assessed the situation – Sesshomaru nowhere in sight, Mai and Rin carrying a huge travelling bag with those stubborn looks on their faces. That could have meant only one. "I'm not the only one, who was left?"

Rin hurried with the explanation.

"We're going to get Ah-Un and catch Sesshomaru-sama before he gets into the trouble." The child said with a straight face. "You can come with us too, Jaken-sama."

Mai narrowed her eyes and gazed at where Jaken came from. She heard noise, which was becoming louder and louder with each passing second.

"I think, that if Jaken wants to join us, we should hurry." She voiced her opinion, pointing with her finger at something. Her other two companions also glanced backwards. Jaken's face distorted in a grimace of pure fear, as a group of imp warriors appeared on the path. They were shaking with the spears, anger all over their faces – undoubtedly they really wanted to catch the escaping groom. However, the five or six warriors were only heralds of more trouble, as right behind them was running the whole bunch of small green demons, all fifty-something angered creatures, who demanded Jaken to go back and say his wedding vows at last.

"Run!" Jaken shouted to the girl and, not looking behind, darted towards the clearing. Mai gawked at him and cursed, tugging the horribly heavy sack. Rin was helping her, but at this rate they would never catch up to Jaken and they had a hunch, that the imp wouldn't wait for them.

"Rin, leave the sack!" Mai said. Rin shook her head.

"But…" she began, but the little girl began dragging her away.

"We have to go!" she insisted. Rin bit her lower lip and nodded – it would be stupid to let Jaken take Ah-Un and leave, defending the damn sack. Both females took off and ran at their top speed. The older girl had to hike her kimono over her knees not to fall down and outrun the pissed off imps.

"Quick!" Jaken shouted to the girls, who darted to the clearing. He was already sitting on the two-headed dragon, who looked very displeased, that someone interrupted the peaceful mealtime. It roared and swished its tail. Rin leapt, jumping onto Ah-Un's back and Mai had to use Jaken's help to crawl up onto the beast. "Up!"

The dragon obediently jumped and flew low right above the imps' heads, swishing its tail and using it to snatch Nintoujou from the hands of the elderly priest. The staff got thrown into the air and whacked its owner on the head. Once it had been retrieved and the threat of marriage vanished, Jaken let out a relieved breath.

"Freedom." He said with a happy smile on his face. "Find Sesshomaru-sama, Ah-Un!"

.

Sesshomaru was slowly gliding over the forest, searching for the presence of youkai. He was determined to solve the mystery as fast as possible and return to his wife. Surely Mai would become unbearable again, should he make her wait for too long. The dog demon furrowed his brows, as he felt a faint, but oddly familiar, mix of scents. They were getting stronger and more discernible, as their owners were approaching his position. Once he managed to recognize all four of them, the dog demon scowled from irritation. He spotted the nearest clearing and landed in the middle of it, waiting for the uninvited marauders.

.

"There!" Rin pointed a white dot in the sea of green and Ah-Un dived abruptly. Mai shrieked and desperately grabbed one of the scaled necks, holding so tightly, as though her life depended on it – probably it did. Unfortunately the beast had neither saddle nor reins, so there was nothing to hold on to. The older girl felt, that she was slipping from the saddle and tried to glue herself to the smooth scales like Spiderman to at least postpone the fall. Once the dragon landed on the ground before Sesshomaru, the fall, which started a couple of moments ago, ended with Mai sprawling herself flat on the ground. Rin looked at her friend with concern.

"Mai, are you all right?" she asked. The older female managed to groan a positive response and pull herself to the sitting position. She looked up and met the disapproving glare of a pair of golden eyes.

Sesshomaru's gaze slipped over the every member of his old group – his insufferable spouse, equally stubborn ward, as Mai must have had bad influence on the once obedient child, the no longer faithful battle steed and the annoying servant. All of them were supposed to stay in the village, just as he ordered.

"What are you doing here?" he asked slowly, addressing no one in particular, as all of them came uninvited. Jaken and Rin exchanged looks, before pointing at Mai. Ah-Un turned both of his heads away, wanting to appear innocent. Sesshomaru's gaze shifted to his wife, who was clumsily standing up, as she had tangled her legs in the elegant kimono. He lifted his eyebrow, expecting a satisfying answer. "Well?"

Mai glanced over her shoulder, only to see all her accomplices pretending, that they weren't the ones to blame for this. She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to her husband.

"I… WE decided, that you need our help." She said in a not-so-confident voice. Sesshomaru's poker face wasn't making it easier. The girl cleared her throat. "We can be useful with this investigation. You'll do the fighting part and we'll take care of investigating. It should be faster that way, right?"

The dog demon furrowed his brows, observing his blabbering wife. He was about to say something, but the rest of the group joined Mai in attempt to reason with him. Jaken was next in line to present his arguments.

"Sesshomaru-sama, I think, that keeping Mai and Rin at your side would be actually safer. True, the journey might be dangerous, but you'll be keeping your watchful eye on them and be able to defend them. Besides, with Mai's talent for attracting trouble, she could be attacked in the house. Alone, she wouldn't stand a chance and you can't count on Inuyasha. He's completely unreliable." Jaken was doing his best to exploit his master's fear for his wife's and ward's safety. If the females stayed with Sesshomaru, his chances of accompanying the dog demon would increase tenfold.

Rin clapped her hands, as something popped into her head.

"You'll be happier with us around, won't you, Sesshomaru-sama? It won't feel alone that way." The child said with a smile. Ah-Un roared in a way, suggesting, that it had nothing to do with all that fuss.

Sesshomaru was studying the hopeful faces of his companions and considered their arguments. As reluctant to yield to them he was, he decided, that all the arguments made sense, even though it annoyed him. Half-angry, that de did not manage to force his order on those insufferable creatures, and half-glad to have company, the dog demon turned on his heel and began walking away.

The mischievous trio exchanged their looks, as the smiles on their faces were growing – by now everyone knew Sesshomaru well enough to know, that his reaction meant an agreement. Mai and Rin high-fived and everyone followed the dog demon. Once again it seemed, that nothing changed since over a year ago.

.

After six short hours Mai was totally exhausted. It turned out, that a year without exercising was catastrophic to her stamina. She felt blisters beginning to grow on her poor, tired feet. As Sesshomaru was taking long strides with those legs of his, while keeping a good pace, she was already out of breath. Her knees began buckling.

She tried to focus on admiring the view – it was early spring, so everything was coming back to life. A carpet of green grass was slowly covering the bare ground, decorated with the first flowers. Some trees were already in bloom, other waiting for their turn to come. As beautiful as it was, Mai's legs kept hurting.

"Let's take a break!" she complained for a hundredth time. However, finally her pleas had been listened to. Sesshomaru stopped and scanned the surroundings, assessing, whether it was a good place for a camp. With the spot hidden from the biting wind and with a river nearby, it seemed to be all right.

"Jaken. Set up a camp." The inu-youkai ordered and then turned to his ward. "Rin, you can catch fish."

The child nodded and skipped off with Ah-Un, darting towards the river. Mai rushed after the kid, when she felt something hold her in place. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Sesshomaru holding the back of her obi. She looked up and arched her eyebrow questioningly, wondering, what he wanted this time.

"After me, woman." He commanded and made his way towards the edge of the forest. Mai wrinkled her forehead and followed him, not liking, that he was dragging her into the bushes – she was nearly one hundred percent sure, that he was going to quarrel with her again and demand her to be a nice, submissive wifey. _When hell freezes over_, Mai thought.

Once both she and the demon were out of the others' hearing range, Sesshomaru looked at his wife harshly.

"You were supposed to stay." He stated accusingly, folding his arms and emanating a high-and-mighty aura. "And yet you disobeyed. Again."

Mai blinked innocently, set on dealing with her husband in a peaceful way. Starting a journey with a heated quarrel wasn't the best of omens, not to mention, that she would like to enjoy the little vacation.

"Sorry." she muttered an apology, even though she didn't feel guilty at all. Sesshomaru saw her dishonesty and glared at her.

"You have no intension of behaving like a good wife should, do you?" the dog demon asked the obvious. "A proper spouse should listen to her husband more often."

Mai huffed at the medieval statement. _Again with this bullshit!_ She sent Sesshomaru an unyielding look.

"A proper husband should listen to his wife as well." She retorted.

"Hn." The demon snorted at her reply, before glaring at her warningly. "Be careful, woman. You are threading on a thin ice. I have yet to consent on you joining me on this journey."

Mai wrinkled her forehead, confused.

"You've already did." She said slowly, not liking, that on Sesshomaru's face a suspiciously malicious smirk was developing – the sure sign, that he had something disturbing in mind. "Okay. Sesshomaru, what do you want?"

The dog demon stepped closer and reached to stroke her hair.

"I have no intention of keeping such an unruly wife at my side." He muttered in a low tone, while lowering his head to whisper in Mai's ear. "However, I will consider it if you show me, that you are a good, obedient woman."

The girl's face flushed, as Sesshomaru caught her earlobe between his teeth, gently nibbling it. Oh god, her husband was extremely amorous right now, if he was saying such things. Once in a while he liked to emphasize his total domination in bed and she let him do it, the way he liked.

"You horny demon!" she accused him, but she heard only a light chuckle as a response. Her husband slowly traced her earlobe with his damp tongue.

"You know, what I want." He purred and continued the caress, urging her to hurry up.

Mai bit her lower lip and reached to the back of her obi. Barely able to concentrate with Sesshomaru frantically licking her ear, she untied the obi.

The inu-youkai smirked to himself with satisfaction, seeing, that Mai was playing a submissive wife right now – it was so arousing, that he could not contain his lust for her anymore. Impatiently, he nearly ripped the kimono off the woman's body, tossing it onto the ground. His lips searched for hers and he kissed her hungrily, forcibly sliding his tongue inside her mouth. She let out a surprised sound, but he held her still with one hand holding the back of her head firmly, as he kept devouring her sweet lips.

Mai squeezed her eyes shut and clutched the edge of his armor almost desperately, for her legs began trembling – the mere desire-filled kiss made her yearn for Sesshomaru. Both the chilly evening wind on her naked skin and the rising excitement were making her shiver. With every second, while their lips were locked and the tongues were entwining together in an erotic dance, her own arousal was growing. Warmth was developing in her abdomen and she began feeling tingling between her legs – the sensation, which soon would become unbearable unless Sesshomaru did something about that. Mai yelped against the demon's mouth, when his other hand slid down her back, squeezing her buttocks only to reach further. Her body shook violently, as the demon began stroking her clitoris from behind with two fingers, never breaking the kiss. The girl was trembling and writhing during the obscene caress. Moans were escaping her throat and she was praying, that Sesshomaru would stop teasing her and get to the point already. The fact, that she was completely naked, while he wore his full attire, including the sword by his hip and the heavy armor, was making the situation even more kinky.

Finally Sesshomaru broke the kiss allowing Mai to finally catch a breath. He took a step back to admire his woman – the female's bosom was moving up and down in a rhythm of her erratic breathing. The fierce blush adorned her skin and her lips were swollen. Her whole body was almost glistening with her desire, which was making the demon even more aroused. When Mai took notice of his wary gaze, she turned red even more and tried to cover her womanly assets with her hands. Sesshomaru smiled to himself. Even though they had been married for over a year now, she was still adorably innocent.

"Get on all fours, woman." He instructed her, reaching to the leather straps supporting his armor. Mai looked at him, resembling a deer in the headlights. The demon made an urging gesture towards the ground.

"O-okay." The girl uttered, going along with Sesshomaru's idea. She crouched and spread her kimono on the ground like a blanket. Feeling horribly embarrassed, she positioned herself just as her husband told her to. Hesitantly, she looked up over her shoulder.

Sesshomaru was very pleased, seeing his female in such erotic position. He got rid of the troublesome armor as quick as possible. Nearly tearing the fabric, he took his haori off and hakama followed. Now just as naked as Mai, he approached his waiting woman and kneeled behind her. She whimpered and trembled, when he traced his hands over her shoulders, moving then down her back, to firmly get a hold of her temptingly round buttocks. He groaned with excitement, grabbing Mai's hips and yanking them up a bit, so that her womanhood was in clear view.

The girl clawed the kimono, which served as a blanket, as she her arms bent and she was supporting herself on her elbows, with her bottom exposed to Sesshomaru in a most outrageous way possible. She squeezed her eyes shut and tried not to pant heavily, when she felt the demon's hot breath on her skin and his strong hands massaging her from behind. She let out a squeak, as she felt his tongue cover her womanhood all of a sudden. Her eyes shot open at the sensation and a shiver shook her body. However, her husband didn't give her enough time to brace herself – his tongue began swirling around her most private part, sliding in and out her opening, while Sesshomaru kept sucking. Mai's moans were becoming louder and louder, slowly becoming shouts. At first she was embarrassed, as always, when he licked her down there, but soon the lust began overpowering shame and the girl stuck her backside out more and spread her legs, giving the demon more access. Her eyes were tightly shut and mind was going blank, as she felt her release approaching.

Suddenly, it stopped. Sesshomaru pulled back, ceasing pleasing his wife. He sat back and smirked mischievously, seeing Mai's womanhood drenched with her juices mixed with his saliva, literarily dripping wet, covering her thighs in the sweet liquid. The woman looked back at him, surprised, that he paused, when she was at the brink of coming. Slowly, he licked his lips, enjoying the taste of his wife. Mai's face flushed immediately. She opened her mouth to say something to him, but Sesshomaru gripped her hips and lifted his, guiding his erected manhood towards her entrance.

The girl gasped and anticipated the moment of pleasure. However, it didn't come that quickly – her husband was teasing her, rubbing his member against her crotch, but wasn't putting it in. She clenched her teeth. He was driving her crazy! She wanted it, she wanted to feel him inside already! Sesshomaru seemed to have fun, when he was taunting her by pressing the tip of his manhood against her opening, sliding only the head in, before removing it completely and teasing her anew. Mai's fists closed on the fabric of the kimono, as the sweet torture had become unbearable. Damn that demon!

When he proceeded with the teasing and rubbed the tip of his member against her again, the woman moved her hips abruptly, making it slide all the way in, stretching her. She screamed from pleasure, when her backside slammed into Sesshomaru's front, his whole length engulfed in her tight warm sheath. He let out a surprised and excited growl at her eagerness to rut with him today. Slowly he slid his manhood out, only to thrust it back in almost violently.

"Ah!" Mai exclaimed, giving him a sign, that she liked the sensation. Feeling encouraged and driven mad with lust for his sweet little temptress, he began moving his hips. He did not bother with going slowly – she was dripping wet, so his manhood was sliding in and out without any resistance, Additionally, her hips tried to match his movements as well, showing him, that she enjoyed the erratic rhythm. Mai's bottom kept smacking against Sesshomaru, when she felt a wave of pleasure hit her out of sudden, erasing all the thoughts and making her shake and clench around her husband's member. The dog demon inhaled sharply, feeling his manhood being squeezed by Mai in a manner, which made him forget everything, everything except making love to her. He held back his own release and kept thrusting, set on making his wife orgasm once more and after that many times more.

The sun was setting, engulfing the bodies, sparking with sweat, in its reddish light. Neither Mai nor Sesshomaru took notice, that winding scarlet lines began to appear on the girl's belly. As the sun was hiding itself beneath the horizon, the pattern became clearer, changing from thin red lines to a glowing red, as though it was a warning. However, the pair was too engulfed in the pleasure of uniting their bodies. The dog demon clenched his teeth, feeling that he would not restrain himself for much longer. His moments became jerky, nearly violent. He had to keep in mind not to clench his hands on Mai's hips too forcefully, not to hurt her. Even so, she would have bruises tomorrow. Each thrust was accompanied by Sesshomaru's low growl and Mai's scream. Finally, she threw her head back, when her husband made her cum again. In the same time the demon grabbed her hips tighter and forcefully smacked her buttocks against his front, burying his length as deep as he could and released his seed inside her.

Mai gasped, barely conscious, when she felt warm liquid spill inside her. After a longer while, Sesshomaru removed his member. Having no strength left, she fell limply on the sweat-drenched kimono, breathless and tired. She heard a thud, as her husband did the same beside her. She turned her head and her hazed eyes met his golden ones, as they were laying beside each other, naked.

"Happy now?" the girl asked Sesshomaru, exhausted by the fierce love making. The demon didn't answer right away. He made the last effort and reached for his haori to cover both of them, shielding their bare bodies from the chill of the night. He put his arm around Mai and buried his face in the crook of her neck.

"Mhm." He muttered with content, kissing her lightly. The girl smiled and dozed off, tired by the fierce love making. Sesshomaru inhaled her scent and closed his eyes as well, satisfied.

The two spend the night under the shadow of the trees, laying in embrace till the sun began casting its first rays, waking them up. As the warm daylight was making its way through the leaves, the glowing red lines began fading, to disappear completely in a matter of seconds.

.

.

**Author Note:**

I'm sorry for not responding to all of your wonderful reviews. I simply didn't know anymore whether I answered You or not.

Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I hope You've enjoyed the chapter – leave a comment!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

.

Chapter 6

.

Mai was content with the journey. Actually, it resembled more a honeymoon than a perilous quest to hunt some enemy down. Most of the time they strolled casually through forests, mountain valleys and such, without anyone attacking them. Sesshomaru and his companions had spent the whole month on searching for any clue, which could help solve the mystery of demon's disappearance. So far there was no success. It became obvious however, that the youkai had decreased in number, but nothing indicated on the reason of it. The investigation ran into buffers – Sesshomaru and his group had met a couple of demons along the way, but they hadn't been able to give any useful information.

"It's hopeless." Mai sighed, while sitting on Ah-Un and staring at the trees. She had harbored hope, that by now the case would be closed and the trip would be over. It was nice to have some vacation from time to time, but a month had been more than enough. She had already forgotten, that traveling consisted not only of admiring the breathtaking landscapes, experiencing an adventure and chatting by the campfire. The brutal reality of camping returned, as Mai had to face the cold baths again, along with sleeping on the hard ground instead on the soft warm bed. Eating mushrooms and fish in the intermissions between the supplies from villages was also not her ideal form of fun. The girl decided, that she had been spoiled by the prosperous life as Sesshomaru's wife.

"Woman." Mai snapped back to the reality, when she heard her husband's deep voice. The dog demon was leading their group as always and was currently gesturing for her to come. The girl nodded and slid off the dragon's back. She lifted the hem of her brand new kimono and ran to join Sesshomaru.

"Hm?" she lifted her head, the questioning look on her face.

The inu-youkai furrowed his brows, as though he was considering something carefully. It was obvious, that he was irritated by the lack of progress as well.

"In your time…" he began, surprising Mai, as he rarely mentioned this issue. "Are there many youkai?"

The girl bit her lower lip before giving her husband an answer.

"I guess, that there are no youkai anymore in the future." She said quietly, so that the others wouldn't hear. She didn't speak of her old world frequently. "Or maybe there are few and they're hiding very well. You know, demons are belied to be a myth back in my world."

"A myth?" Sesshomaru repeated, arching his eyebrow. "Hn. Do not be foolish."

Mai sighed, when her husband refused to believe her words. Well… no wonder. It would be as though someone told her, that demons considered humans to be characters out of a fairy tale. Furthermore, it must be unpleasant to learn, that one's species would be wiped out.

"Hn." Sesshomaru snorted arrogantly. "It is impossible for weak humans to outlive youkai. You must be mistaken."

Mai narrowed her eyes at her husband.

"I'm not lying, Sesshomaru. I told you the truth." She snapped, knitting her eyebrows. She folded her arms. "Actually it's not that surprising. Humans are smarter than demons."

The inu-youkai shot her an angered glare. He clenched his fist, fighting with the urge to smack his unruly spouse in her adorable head.

"Do you consider this Sesshomaru a fool?" he asked in a low tone, dangerously close to a growl. He kept glaring at her, waiting for her to deny and apologize.

Mai battered her eyelashes innocently, not saying anything what Sesshomaru expected. Her beloved husband had many talents and abilities and was much better than her own when it came to military things like strategy, but generally thinking wasn't his greatest asset. Adding in his arrogance and the oversized ego, the inu-youkai was one of the most insufferable creatures alive. And yet she loved him. Therefore she wanted to avoid arguing with Sesshomaru, who was just as stubborn as Mai and took her cheekiness a little bit too seriously.

"Sesshomaru, don't…" Mai began, wanting to make amends quickly, but a wave of nausea hit her out of sudden. The girl covered her mouth with a hand, having a sickening feeling, that her breakfast was wandering up to her throat. She darted sideways, but she managed to take only two steps, before she bent in half and emptied the content of her stomach. She desperately grabbed the trunk of a young tree for support and vomited again, as another wave of nausea hit her. The girl kept throwing up till her whole almost-digested breakfast found itself at her feet. When her stomach was empty, the urge to vomit didn't stop – she kept coughing, as though her body wanted to return more food, but there was no more.

"Mai?" Rin asked with concern, coming closer to the young woman. The group gathered around her, their faces expressing worry.

"Woman. Are you fine?" Sesshomaru demanded. Mai slowly nodded, coughing. Thankfully Jaken showed some common sense and went to fetch her a clean cloth and some water. Feeling embarrassed by throwing up on the eyes of her friends and husband, the girl slowly cleaned herself and rinsed her mouth, trying to get rid of the nasty metallic aftertaste.

"I'm all right." She mumbled, but she wasn't sure whether it was true or not – she felt exhausted and weak, as though someone stretched her.

Sesshomaru took a look at Mai's ghostly pale face, worried about her.

"Jaken, set a camp." He ordered and approached his human wife. She smiled at him, but it was apparent, that she was not fine. Sesshomaru furrowed his brows and lifted her from the ground, holding her in his arms. She was not protesting, that was a bad sign itself. Carefully he carried her towards the place chosen for a camp. He searched with his eyes for his ward. "Rin, fetch something to cover."

The child nodded and quickly grabbed two thick kimonos out of the packs. She sprawled one of them on the ground and Sesshomaru gently placed Mai on it. He took the other one and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"Thanks." Mai said weakly. Her husband seated himself beside her and kept staring at her. Rin and Jaken were keeping a watchful eye on her too.

"Are you sick?" Sesshomaru asked, furrowing his brows.

"It's… I'm sure there had to be something wrong with the fish." The girl voiced her suspicion, what the reason of the rebellious attitude of her stomach was. She sighed heavily and rested her head on her husband's shoulder.

Jaken wrinkled his forehead.

"Mai, all three of us ate the same fish and we'll all right." The imp shared his opinion, pointing at himself and Rin. "Rin-chan, do you feel sick?"

The little girl shook her head and all eyes concentrated on Mai again.

"Don't look at me like that." The girl muttered, not wanting to be in the center of attention. "I felt a little queasy, that's all."

However, her declaration didn't convince anyone – Sesshomaru was still staring at her, as though she was about to die in his arms, while Rin and Jaken were playing Doctor House.

"You've been riding on Ah-Un most of the time, Mai." Jaken said, deep in thought. He glanced at the girl suspiciously. "You're not able to walk all day, aren't you?"

The girl rolled her eyes, as the imp uncovered _the mystery of the century_.

"I have no stamina. That's no big deal." She protested, gradually getting angry, that everyone was doing such a fuss over one-time vomiting. "Besides, I have blisters on my feet. I can't possibly jog all day!"

Rin narrowed her minds, slowly linking facts and making good use of her observation ability.

"Kohaku's older sister was throwing up too, when she was expecting the twins." The girl said.

A grave silence fell, as everyone gawked at Mai.

"Eh?" the girl looked around, realizing, what they were suspecting. "Pregnant? Me?"

Impossible… That was impossible, right? Just because she had a nausea, it didn't mean for sure, that she was pregnant! Anyway, there was still the spell – she was pretty sure, that the pattern didn't show up recently. Come on, she would have noticed her belly glowing red! Besides, so far the spell was active in a rather regular intervals of about five months and it showed a month ago. It was rather unlikely, that it could show again after less than month. Furthermore, she was always checking, before she and Sesshomaru made love. The nausea wasn't an evidence. It could mean anything, for example, that she lacked vitamins. After all, her diet consisted mainly from mushrooms and fish. From time to time Sesshomaru caught some rabbit but still. Mai shook her head.

"No way I'm pregnant." She stated. "I just have to eat more vegetables. Anyway, everyone knows, that you don't have a period while pregnant and I had mine…"

Mai was frantically thinking, when her last period was. Shit, when was that?!

Sesshomaru let out a breath, he was unknowingly holding, as his nose detected a familiar scent.

"It appears, that it is a false alarm." He said, slightly disappointed, that his wife would not give birth to his pup yet, after all. The woman stated at him in confusion, having absolutely no idea, what he meant. Seeing that, the demon decided to explain. "You started bleeding just now."

"Oh." That was Mai's only response to her husband informing her of the fact, that she just got her period. She sat still, as the awkward situation was sinking to her mind. Damn, it gave her a scare! For a while she really had thought, that she might had been knocked up. True – she was feeling tired and threw up once, but thankfully it had nothing to do with pregnancy. It must just be the bad diet and lack of stamina, simple as that. She smiled widely, but Sesshomaru didn't share her enthusiasm.

"Rest now." He told her, before standing up.

.

**Two days later…**

.

"All right, that's enough. Let's go." Mai was whining to Sesshomaru, who sat, leaning his back against a tree.

"You will rest one more day." He announced his decision in a tone hinting, that it was final. Mai rolled her eyes and huffed from irritation.

"I'm feeling absolutely fine! We can set off!" she rested her hands on the hips, arguing with her husband again.

The dog demon narrowed his eyes and glared at her, annoyed, that she kept defying him, even though he was concerned about her well-being. Why was the woman so reckless?

"You were sick this morning too." Sesshomaru pointed out.

Mai sighed, tired of quarreling for the past two days. She was feeling okay – she rested a bit, gathered her strength and was ready to continue the journey. Her stomach was still rebellious, but putting that aside, she was healthy. Yet Sesshomaru was insisting on having her sit in place for two whole days, even though she kept telling him, that it was fine to move forward. If it continued like this, they would never be able to leave this damn place!

"My stomach is upset, because I need vitamins!" she nearly yelled at the demon. "Fruit, not fish! Vegetables instead of mushrooms! And ice-cream! And maybe some chocolate too…"

The dog demon arched his eyebrow, hearing the unusual demands coming out of his wife's mouth. Some of her cravings including foreign terms, probably describing food from her world. He observed Mai, who began pacing, fixated on one thing.

"Dear god, I'd kill for a bar of chocolate. With hazel nuts… no, no, strawberry filling." The girl was muttering to herself with a dreamy smile on her face. "Crap, why didn't I take those pickles from Sango with me?"

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows – the woman's behavior was strange. So far he never saw her obsessed with food that much. Was his spouse fine, as she claimed? The demon's eyes followed her, as she was pacing in the circles, then crawled atop the battle steed and sent him a challenging glare, as though daring him to confront her again. The inu-youkai narrowed his eyes at his insolent wife – along with her feisty defiance her energy seemed to have returned. Perhaps it was safe for her to continue the travel.

"Hn." The dog demon stood up, averting his eyes from Mai. "Let us go."

With that words, he began walking away, followed by his companions.

.

Mai huffed, as she felt the stares of everyone on herself. Again. Her friends and Sesshomaru kept checking, whether she was okay every five minutes, which was getting really annoying.

"You don't need to throw up?" she gritted her teeth, as she heard Jaken asking the question. She glared at the imp from above, sending him her best poisonous look.

"Stop asking!" she snapped, as she was fed up with the never-ending questions. Why no one could understand, that they were making more fuss than it was worth it?! She was perfectly healthy and feeling just fine – even her period had ended already, surprisingly fast. And it was weird.

"Mai…" Rin began.

"What now?" Mai muttered rudely. When she saw the child with a hurt look on her face, she realized, how necessarily rude she had behaved just now. Why did she do it anyway? It wasn't like her to be mean to Rin. The girl smiled at the kid in an apologizing way. "I'm sorry, Rin."

The child nodded, but gave up on talking with Mai. Rin and Jaken exchanged a worried looks. They looked like they were about to say something, but closed their mouth, seeing the older girl's glare. Ah-Un roared with dismay and swished his tail, irritated by the strange tension.

Mai sighed heavily. It must be the lack of progress, that was making her act so unreasonable. Damn, she wished she could be home again, of course with her husband. Rin and Jaken stayed behind, discussing something, while whispering – the girl was suspecting, that they were talking about her. She rolled her eyes and set her gaze on Sesshomaru's back. He didn't even glance back and she didn't feel up to running to him. Bored, she began admiring the landscape.

They were crossing a mountainous area. The valley, they were crossing was filled mainly with bare stones and boulders. Bushes and short trees were everything, that grew here. A river was snaking along the valley. Because the snow in the mountains began to melt, the water level was high and the current strong. Mai shivered, realizing, that she probably would have to bathe in that river sooner or later – the water must be icy cold. Both the river and the familiar boulders reminded her of a place, she had seen before. However, she might have been mistaken, as during the nearly year, when she was Sesshomaru's servant, she was traveling a lot and got to sightsee a lot of Japan. Most of the time they were in the wilderness, as it seemed to be a natural habitat for the demons, while the people gathered mostly near the shores of the islands. The landscape looked familiar, but most of the views were similar.

"Were we before?" Finally she asked, hoping, that someone would satisfy her curiosity.

"We were." Jaken answered, sighing with a little bit of nostalgia. "We're in Musashimo, my homeland."

Mai clapped her hands.

"I knew it!" she exclaimed, as she was right, that the place was familiar. Then her stomach rumbled, demanding food.

Everyone's eyes turned to her again. Even Sesshomaru glanced over his shoulder. Jaken rolled his eyes.

"If you're hungry, we can visit my kin." The imp suggested, not looking happy at the prospect, probably because he barely managed to escape marrying Hotaru and was slightly worried about the consequences. "I'm sure, that we'll be welcomed and they'll have a feast for us waiting."

At the mention of a feast Mai's stomach rumbled again, as though it was answering instead of the girl. She clutched it and nodded, totally agreeing with her body. Hopefully, if she ate properly, the vomiting episodes would come to an end.

"Lead the way, Jaken!" she exclaimed enthusiastically. A wide grin appeared on her face, as she remembered the delicious riceballs… Maybe this time she should get a recipe.

The imp nodded and confidently trotted forward, acting as a guide. While he was passing Sesshomaru, the dog demon glared at him with disapproval all over his face. The imp squeaked, as a bump appeared on his head, after the dog demon graced him with a kick. Jaken looked up at his master, who was looking maliciously at the servant. The imp gulped – he shouldn't have forgotten, that it was the inu-youkai, who was leading the group.

"I'm sorry, Sesshomaru-sama. Forgive this Jaken for his insolence!" Jaken performed an impressive show of groveling, falling to his knees, siding a meter till he reached Sesshomaru's boots and banged his forehead against the dirt. "I meant no disrespect to you!"

The dog demon's face was expressionless, but he seemed to approve of Jaken's way of apologizing. He shifted his gaze to his spouse, who was observing this scene.

"This is how it is done, woman." He said to her, pointing at groveling Jaken.

Mai's face went red with anger at the inu-youkai's cheekiness. She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists.

"You wish, jerk!" she hissed out, sending her husband a glare. However, Sesshomaru only smirked, apparently entertained by her reaction and kicked Jaken again, ushering him to stop apologizing and get on his feet already.

"Jaken, lead the way." The dog demon commanded.

The imp nodded and bowed once again before assuming his role as a guide. He sighed heavily, cursing his perilous life, and began walking.

"We'll be there in a quarter hour." The imp assured, rubbing the bump on his head. "Maybe sooner if we hurry up. There will be lots of food, Mai. As you noticed, my kin is very polite and…"

Jaken stopped in midsentence, seeing the change in Sesshomaru's face expression. The dog demon furrowed his brows, as though he sensed something alarming. The girls noticed this too and tensed a bit, worried.

"Sesshomaru-sama, is there something wrong?" Rin asked, moving herself closet to Ah-Un and Mai. The dog demon didn't glance at the child.

"This Sesshomaru should be able to pick the scents of that many youkai by now." He replied slowly. "Yet I cannot sense any presence."

.

.

**Author Note: **

**I saw all your great reviews, so I thought it was time for an update. Please comment to get the chapters faster. I love reading your reviews!**

**.**

**My other fic, "King in the Outlands", is updated slowly but surely. Have a look at it; you won't regret.**

**.**

**If you're wondering how Mai and Sesshomaru will end up (and about their kids), read the Epilogue. To get it, you need to read and review the first 13 chapters of "King in the Outlands".**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

.

.

Chapter 7

.

.

"I cannot sense any presence." Sesshomaru said, looking in the direction, where the imp settlement was. Jaken stared at him, his face getting paler, as the realization struck him. His round yellow eyes were glistening with anxiety.

"No, it can't be." He whispered to himself, shaking his head, as dark thoughts coursed through his mind.

Sesshomaru took notice of his servant's distress. Without saying a word, he leapt into the air. Jaken squeaked, seeing his master leaving and barely managed to grab the end of the white fur, which the dog demon was carried over his shoulder.

"Rin!" Mai called to the little girl from Ah-Un's back, reaching with her hand towards the child. Rin grabbed it and got pulled up onto the saddle. Once both passengers were on board, the beast let out a roar and jumped after Sesshomaru, following its master.

The flight was brief and soon they reached the imp settlement. Mai slid off the dragon's back and looked around. There were no imps at the gates of the imp town. Sesshomaru made his way through them and entered the settlement. The girl and the rest of his group followed him, keeping a watchful eye at the surroundings. Once inside, it was getting more and more creepy. The imps' castle had been carved in the mountain slope – it was a lot of caves, combined together. The footsteps were echoing throughout the stone halls, each tiniest sound was becoming a loud noise, what made Sesshomaru's group conscious of their movements. Mai was walking carefully and was not liking, what she saw – there was no one here, even though the last time she had been here the underground town was very lively and filled with imps.

"What happened here?" Jaken whispered to himself, when they reached the main hall. The table was still set, looking ready for a usual evening feast, but the food was rotten already. Mai came closer, feeling like a heroine of the "X-Files". Some of the chairs were overturned, indicating, that the imps were standing up from the table in haste. The remnants of the dishes weren't untouched – they looked like they had been half-eaten. The door to the hall was closed, so animals couldn't have been the ones responsible for this. It meant, that the imps vanished in the middle of the meal. The girl felt a shiver go down her spine. It was getting really disturbing. She touched the surface of the table and wiped a thin layer of dust off the table.

"Two weeks." Mai yelped and jumped from surprise, as Sesshomaru suddenly spoke. The demon pointed at the rotten food. "No one was here in two weeks."

Rin crouched and picked up some item.

"Sesshomaru-sama, where do you think they went?" the child asked, examining the item carefully – it was a doll, which probably belonged to one of the imp children.

The demon didn't answer. He was scanning the surroundings. His eyes slid over the tables, the personal belongings, which were laying scattered on the floor in the main hall. Then, something caught his attention and the demon made his way towards the furthest end of the chamber. He looked down at the wall. Mai lifted the hem of her kimono and jogged there too.

"A message!" she gasped, seeing the letters painted on the wall with red ink. The girl wrinkled her forehead, coming to the conclusion, that the ink was most probably the blood of the imp, who left the message. She crouched, so that her eyes would be at the same level as the blurry inscription.

"H.. E… L…" she was deciphering the letters. Her eyes widened. One letter must be missing, but the message was clear.

"Help." Jaken said in a trembling voice. The four of them were standing in silence for long minutes, wondering, what had transpired in this place. What caused the hundreds of imps vanish in the middle of the dinner.

"Sesshomaru," Mai was the first to break the silence. "Can't you track the imps?"

The demon furrowed his brows, apparently sniffing the air.

"The scents have already melted with the air." He responded, meaning "no".

Then the dog demon turned around and left the dining hall, roaming through the other chambers. Mai, Rin and Jaken followed like baby ducklings trotting after their mother, not eager to stay behind.

Everywhere was the same – the items abandoned, as though someone simply left there as they was and went away. However, aside the bloody letters on the wall in the main hall, they found no signs of struggle, which could indicate, that the imps left willingly.

"I won't believe it." Jaken stated firmly, folding his arms on his chest. "Maybe we are not the strongest of the youkai, but we're no cowards either! No one will tell me, that my kin left without putting up a good fight!"

The imp clenched his little fists, anger boiling in him, as he was looking at his empty home, which had been vibrating with life once.

"I don't know how, but they've been kidnapped! We have to find the one, who's behind this!"

Mai bit her lower lip, seeing her friend so crazy with grief. Sesshomaru glanced at his servant too.

"This Sesshomaru will find them." He declared confidently.

However, the dog demon was not sure, whether he would be able to keep this promise. There were too many questions, but too few answers. One was beyond all doubt though – the happening, which caused hundreds of youkai disappear without a trace was a dangerous one, perhaps more powerful than he had estimated. The words of his spouse troubled him too. Did that mean, that if nothing was done, the race of youkai would be wiped out?

.

**Back at the village**

.

"I can't believe, that that bastard Sesshomaru went on a honeymoon!" Inuyasha snorted, as he, Miroku and Kohaku sat on the stairs, leading to the temple. The three males had the rare opportunity to relax, without any tedious tasks to perform. Luckily Kagome decided to visit Sango, which freed Miroku from his wife and the six-month-old twins. He felt accomplished as a husband and father, but every man needs a break from time to time. Having nothing better to do, the three of them gathered to talk, what meant mostly complaining.

Their gazes wandered to the nearest hill, right next to the temple. Much to dismay of the people, who liked peace and silence, a horrible noise was erupting from there. After Jaken's daring escape from the altar, the imps refused to leave home, till the unruly groom returned and married Hotaru at last. The villagers found it amusing at fist and it wasn't too bothersome, but after two weeks everything had changed. Hotaru and the elder imps had decided, that they couldn't live in a camp for any longer and decided to build a more permanent housing. Inuyasha and the villagers protested, but Kagome, Sango and Kaede got enchanted by the sight of poor little imps and the demons had been permitted to stay. They had begun delving their settlements in the hill in the direct neighborhood of the Shrine right away, in the very center of the village. To make the matters worse, they kept partying every evening and were producing booze on a massive scale form everything, they could get their green paws on. Now everyone understood, why Jaken was that desperate to escape.

The three males sighed simultaneously, looking at the imps working. Miroku took a sip of the imp booze.

"How boring." The hanyou yawned, trying to lay down on the stairs comfortably. "Keh! I should go somewhere too."

Kohaku arched his eyebrow, observing the jealous Inuyasha. The boy cleared his throat.

"I've heard, that the people from a village at the seashore have some problems with a demon. I think, it's a sea serpent or something like that. I wanted to check it out after I visit sister. I could need some hel…"

The young demon slayer paused in midsentence, seeing two pairs of eyes, glowing with the desire of an adventure – especially Inuyasha seemed all eager to embark on a quest to slaughter a sea serpent. The hanyou grinned widely and forcefully patted Kohaku on the back. Poor boy gasped and winced, as his lungs nearly got ripped off the spine.

"You can count on me anytime, Kohaku." The half-demon ensured the demon-slayer, a cheerful look on his face, as she showed his sharp fangs in a cheerful smile. "That's what I need. Are you going too, Miroku?"

The monk knitted his eyebrows, visibly troubled. He would like to get his vacation as well, but he had responsibility to uphold. No matter how temping it was, he couldn't leave Sango and his adorable little daughters alone. She shook his head with regret.

"Sorry, but no." Miroku answered, sighing heavily.

Inuyasha shrugged his shoulder and stood up, yanking Kohaku up.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed. His two companions gawked at him, startled, that the decision had been made so quickly.

"You're going to leave Kagome alone?" Miroku made sure, having a hunch, that his friend was on the right way to get himself into some serious trouble with the certain miko. However, such though didn't seem to worry Inuyasha at all. The hanyou nodded with confidence.

"That's right. That's exactly, what I'm going to do." He stated firmly, sending Miroku and Kohaku a challenging look, as though he expected someone to try to make him change his mind. The monk and his young brother-in-law were staring at the half-demon, picturing in their minds Kagome slamming her betrothed into ground over and over again.

"Kagome-sama won't like it." The demon-slayer voiced his doubt in a shy attempt to save Inuyasha from his own stupidity.

"Keh!" the half-demon flipped his worry off. "It'll do her good. When that bastard Sesshomaru left Mai, she ran to him all happy to be his wife, right?"

Miroku and Kohaku exchanged looks, now understanding, what Inuyasha had in mind – it was still the problem of the marriage. Or rather the lack of it.

"Inuyasha, you should rethink that." The monk said firmly, but the hanyou refused to listen to him, sure, that his idea was brilliant. Miroku winced, seeing the dreamy look on Inuyasha's face. He shook his head, as the hanyou was apparently in the middle of his wedding night, playing in his head.

"That's hopeless." Miroku muttered and reached for the booze. With sadness he discovered, that the small bottle was already empty.

"Come on, Kohaku." Inuyasha said to the young demon-slayer and began dragging him out of the village and leaving the monk behind. Miroku waved goodbye and sighed, pitying Inuyasha. Once the hanyou returned, he would be just as screwed as Jaken. Thinking of Jaken and the ugly green youkai, he looked at the empty bottle. It was the last one of the resources and tomorrow Mushin-sama and Hatchi should be popping by. The monk reached to his sleeve and fished out a pouch with money. Then, he directed his footsteps towards the hill near the Shrine.

.

Kohaku sighed and Kirara meowed, when the villagers fled to their shacks, once they saw the silver-haired hanyou. Inuyasha's reaction only caused their distress to grow – he furrowed his brows, sending nasty glares at the poor people.

"Inuyasha-sama, maybe stay here and I'll go and talk with the villagers." The boy suggested, but the half-demon was completely logic-prone and ignored Kohaku's words.

"Keh!" he snorted, folding his arms. "Follow me!"

The boy bit his lower lip, feeling, that nothing good would come out of this. Nevertheless he followed the hanyou, who was stomping along the empty dust road in the middle of the human settlement. He locked the biggest house on and turned that way. Inuyasha didn't bother himself by knocking or waiting for the host to invite him in. He simply set his bare foot on the wooden door and gave it an effortless push. The door flew inside and the hanyou confidently stepped on it, inviting himself inside.

Kohaku was on the brink of making a face-palm. Instead of helping people, troubled by youkai, he brought just another threat along in a form of the hanyou.

"Who's the village's leader?!" Inuyasha yelled, eying the group of people, who were cowering from fear in the corner of the room – a middle-aged man and five women. Kohaku peeked inside from behind the hanyou's back and sighed heavily, seeing the owner of the hut, his wife and four adolescent daughters. The poor people were trembling and saying prayers, scared out of their wits of the half-demon, who had just invaded their house. The young demon-slayer decided to take the lead, before Inuyasha managed to make the things worse even more.

"We're sorry for coming in like this." The boy respectfully bowed his head, while rushing past the hanyou and standing between the people and Inuyasha. He evoked the most friendly smile, he could manage. "We mean no harm. We're demon-slayers and we heard, that you have a problem with a sea serpent. We came to help, so don't be afraid."

The village leader sent the pair a distrustful look, clearly doubting Kohaku's words.

"That… thing behind you is a mononoke." The man said quietly, shielding his wife and daughters from Inuyasha's now angered glare.

"Keh! We're wasting our time here!" the hanyou snapped, folding his arms and not stopping glaring at the owner of the house.

Kohaku took a deep, calming breath, pitying himself, that he had to deal with Inuyasha's bad attitude. The boy grabbed the sleeve of the hanyou's fire rat and tugged it, seating himself on the floor and dragging his companion down. The gesture apparently had a positive effect on the man and his family, for he relaxed a bit. At least he wasn't trembling anymore. The village leader stayed still for a while, assessing, whether the two newcomers were really as harmless as they had claimed to be.

"So you want to defeat the sea serpent?" he asked finally, straightening his back and regaining the confidence. Kohaku nodded and the man seated himself closer to the hanyou and the boy. The women took this opportunity to leave the room in a hurry. The village's leader bit his lower lip, studying first Kohaku, then the frowning half-demon. "Four golden coins. It could have been five, but you broke the door."

Inuyasha shrugged, not really bothered. After all, all he wanted was a bit of exercise.

"It will do." Kohaku agreed to the payment. "Now please tell us about this demon."

The village leader scratched his chin.

"Actually, the sea serpent wasn't bothering us till now. It was always there, in the sea. Since centuries, I think. The people here are all fishermen, so it was rather annoying, that the demon kept eating our fish, but beside that it did no one any harm – it was just swimming in the sea, nothing more. However, a few months ago it changed. The demon became violent. The sea serpent started attacking the people, sinking fishermen's boats, destroying the nets and even damaged a few houses on the shore. The people stopped fishing, no one dares even go near the sea shore. If it continues, the whole village would be ruined." The man told the story.

"You can count on my Tessaiga with that!" Inuyasha stated, putting his clawed hand on the hilt of the sword and standing up. Kohaku followed him and they marched towards the sea, looking for the monster, troubling the villagers.

It turned out, that the search was not necessary, as the infamous sea serpent was on the shore, splashing the water and destroying the abandoned houses.

"It's really aggressive." Kohaku said, reaching for his weapon, crafted by Totosai.

The serpent was an exceptionally huge youkai, its size matching Ryuukotsei or even surpassing it. The bluish scales were glowing in the sun, as the demon was wrecking havoc with his tail, using it like a whip. When he noticed the newcomers, it roared wildly and bared his long teeth, thin and sharp like swords.

"Keh!" Inuyasha snorted, drawing Tessaiga. The rusty sword transformed right away, assuming the usual shape. "A piece of cake."

Before Kohaku even managed to mount Kirara, the hanyou darted forward, charging onto the opponent. The angered sea serpent tried to snatch the tiny opponent in his jaws and crush it, but Inuyasha was too fast and the serpent's size was making him less flexible. The huge demon let out an irritated hiss, unsuccessfully attempting to kill the hanyou, using the whip-like tail.

"MEIDOU ZANGETSUHA!" Inuyasha yelled, as he suddenly found himself in the air at the level of the serpent's eyes. The demon saw multiple black crescents flying his way and after a split second the ground trembled, as the headless body of the serpent crashed onto it. Inuyasha lightly landed on the corpse and jumped off it. The serpent twitched a few times and stilled. The hanyou sheathed Tessaiga, slightly disappointed, that the fight was that short.

"Well done, Inuyasha-sama!" Kohaku shouted to the half-demon. Kirara landed and the boy slipped off her back, examining the enormous headless carcass. He furrowed his brows, thinking about what the village leader said. Something was bothering him.

"It's strange, that a harmless demon went rampage out of sudden." The boy voiced his doubts aloud, coming closer and narrowing his eyes. Inuyasha arched his eyebrow, not really concerned about it, but Kohaku refused to leave without the proper investigation. He leaned over the dead body and began examining it inch after inch, much to the hanyou's annoyance, as his patience was wearing thin. The young demon slayer gasped. "Here!"

Inuyasha approached the boy, wanting to see, what made Kohaku so excited. The kid showed him a little puncture signs in the scales, as though a thick needle went through the skin. The half-demon furrowed his brows.

"Something stung it?" he guessed. Kohaku nodded, pointing at other puncture wounds.

"A lot of them, at that. Those are the signs of Yadori Sanagi, that attached themselves to the sea serpent." The demon-slayer explained. Inuyasha remembered, that one of those parasites glued itself to Shippo once. Kohaku sighed. "But, I suspect, that it was not the presence of Yadori Sanagi, that made the demon aggressive, but the lack of thereof."

"How so?" the hanyou asked.

"Yadori Sanagi live in a symbiosis with their host and release a substance, which makes the demons rather numb and less aggressive. When the parasites vanished, the sea serpent became violent." Kohaku told Inuyasha, what he suspected. The hanyou instinctively clenched his hand on the hilt of his sword.

"The last time something like that happened, it meant, that Naraku was plotting something nasty." The half-demon said seriously, gazing at the waves, washing the sea serpent's carcass. Kohaku looked at his companion warily.

"Inuyasha-sama, do you think, that there is a new enemy around?" the boy asked. Hanyou turned around.

"How would I know?" he answered with a question. "But if nothing was going on, Sesshomaru would be back from his honeymoon already."

.

.

Author Note:

Thanks for the wonderful feedback! Please don't be shy and comment.

Be sure to check out "King in the Outlands". It got updated today!


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

.

.

Chapter 8

.

"Sesshomaru, we're short on the soap already. And I NEED to have vegetables!" Mai kept complaining, as the pointless march continued. She set her gaze on her husband and carried on nagging. "Besides, maybe villagers will know something about the missing youkai. I could ask them."

Sesshomaru refused to look at his wife – he perfectly felt her glare. As lenient to Mai he was, the demon's patience for her illogical behavior was wearing thin. Since days she had been even more insufferable than usual and got easily irritated. Additionally, she was constantly nagging him to get her various types of food, most of which were unknown for Sesshomaru. He was refusing so far, not eager to give in to woman's foolish whims, but his resistance was breaking – she kept throwing up almost daily. Perhaps she should obtain the food, she desired.

"You may visit a village." The inu-youkai finally decided. "Take Rin along."

Mai made a triumphant gesture, happy, that her stubborn husband gave in at last. Damn, it was hard this time – she needed almost a week to break his resistance. However her special nagging-technique, combined with patience, always brought a positive result in the end.

"Thanks." She said, smiling fondly and climbing on her toes, so that she could reach Sesshomaru's cheek. She pressed her lips against it, kissing the twin magenta stripes gently. Her husband didn't look particularly happy, more like annoyed by the pointless gesture, but she knew him well enough to know, that he enjoyed her showing him her love.

The frown on the dog demon's face deepened, when he felt a small palm sneakily making its way inside the sleeve of his haori, searching for something. After a few moments the fingers found it and his wife fished out the coin-filled pouch. She weighed it in her hand and quickly hid in her own sleeve, flashing a cheeky smile.

"We'll be back soon." She promised, happily ignoring the displeased look on Sesshomaru's face, and turned to Rin, reaching out with her hand. "Come on, Rin!"

The child ran to her and the two girls set off to the nearest human village, which was not far. They crossed one hill and reached it already. The settlement wasn't a big one, but the houses were well-built and nicely finished, along with tiny flower gardens in front of each hut. Mai and Rin were curiously looking around. They haven't seen another village for over a year – it was a little bit awkward, for the older girl forgot a little bit how was it like. The settlement was not poor, but her and Rin's fine kimonos were drawing attention nevertheless. The villagers were gawking at two girls and pointing them with fingers. Mai made all her shopping surprisingly quickly, wanting to get out of the sight as soon as possible – the folks were really nosy and she didn't want to cause any trouble again.

"We're going back, Rin." She said to the child. The little girl nodded, taking some of the packages from Mai. The young woman readjusted the heavy bag on her shoulder and they began walking along the main road, passing the houses by.

"Mononoke!"

Mai began instinctively looking around, searching for a threat. However, she spotted no demon. The people on the crowded street also were turning their heads in confusion.

"Be gone, you impure being!" a voice croaked.

The girl locked its owner on – an elderly Shinto priest, dressed in worn ceremonial robes, that seemed to be just as old, as the one, who was wearing them. The man was nearly bent in half from his respectable age, the skin so wrinkled, that he hardly resembled a human being. However, his spirit seemed to be intact, as the elderly man energetically made his way forward, supporting himself on a cane. He was squinting his eyes and eying Mai. The girl glances sideways, but the old priest was definitely looking at her. Then, he lifted his trembling hand and pointed with a long bony finger directly at her.

"You will not fool me, mononoke!" he said, stopping and slowly reaching to his sleeve for a few ofudas.

Mai and Rin were standing still, blinking. Other villagers were observing the show rather with curiosity than fear.

"Mai, did he call you a demon?" the little girl asked her older companion quietly.

"I think so." Mai answered, baffled and slightly embarrassed by the priest mistake. She bit her lower lip, as the elderly man was preparing himself to exorcise her. Well… that was a first for her. She forced a polite smile on her lips and lifted her hands in a surrendering gesture, showing, that she wasn't dangerous. "Umm… we seem to have a little misunderstanding here. You see, I'm not a demon. You must be mistaken."

The priest furrowed his brows, shooting a suspicious look at her, as though Mai was trying to fool him.

"I've been a priest of this village for eighty years and I'm always right! You're a youkai!" the man exclaimed, threatening her both with ofudas and a walking stick. Mai was becoming slightly nervous, as a circle of villagers surrounded the girls and the priest, waiting for an outcome. Crap, it was her bad luck! She just had to run into some crazy geezer! She sighed and cleared her throat.

"I'm a human. I was born as one and I'm damn sure, that nothing changed since then." She stated firmly, resting her hand on her hip. However, the elderly man wasn't easy to convince.

"You're a demon, you lying mononoke!" he called to her, acting with the persistence, characteristic for the elderly.

"I'm not!" Mai shouted back, now getting pissed off. She narrowed her eyes at the wrinkled source of trouble. "You're old and demented!"

"I'm fine!" the priest kept arguing. "I sense youki in you."

Mai rolled her eyes at the bullshit.

"I'm telling you for the last time. I'm HUMAN! Not demon, human!" she shrieked, losing control over herself. She glared at the onlookers, as though challenging them. Then, she grabbed Rin's hand. "Come, Rin. We're leaving."

However, it was too late, for the villagers had the girls already surrounded, apparently believing the priest. Mai glanced sideways and noticed, that some men managed to grab onto some farming tools – traditional weapons, used by monster-hunting mob. She took a step back and looked for a possible escape route, but it was rather hopeless. The girl muttered a colorful curse under her nose, berating herself for getting in some shit again.

"Mai…" Rin began, also nervous because of the gathering. The older girl nodded, knowing, what the kid had in mind.

"I guess, that we need the heavy cavalry." Mai whispered to her young companion. Slowly, so as not to raise any more suspicions in the villagers, she reached to her sleeve, where she had a hidden knife. She lifted the sheath just an inch and squeezed the blade, clenching the teeth, not to whimper from pain. She removed her palm, once she felt blood staining her skin. She let the red liquid drop on the ground and addressed the gathered people. "I'd advise you to get the hell out of here if you want to live."

However, the villagers shook their heads in refusal – apparently the sight of the short woman and a child was making them feel confident.

"I'm serious. Go back to your families before something bad happens to you." She suggested again. The villagers were only stupid and that wasn't a good reason for Mai to let them get slaughtered in a moment. If only they listened to her…

"Stay, where you are, you demon!" one of them shouted.

"We're not cowards! We're not afraid of you, youkai!" another one joined and the rest muttered an approval.

"Well, you should be afraid then of the real demon." Mai said, fed up with her fruitless effort to end the mess in a peaceful way.

The elderly priest furrowed his brows and abruptly turned his head to look at the sky. His eyes widened, as though he sensed something ominous. He watched the sky, as a bluish streak darted up from the forest and began approaching the village at a great speed. The priest let out a surprised and scared gasp, when he recognized the nature of the phenomenon.

"Everyone, back! Take cover!" he yelled as loudly as his worn lungs allowed him to. He took a step back from Mai and grabbed the nearest youngster, dragging him away from the girls. The mob was confused, gawking at the priest, who suddenly changed his mind. The old man huffed. "I said run!"

Some of the villagers, whose level of intelligence was higher than the rest's, listened to the elderly man and fled, hiding in the huts. However, a small group remained and the priest was energetically pushing them back, whacking the stout farmer with his cane.

"I said flee!" he kept shouting. "How do you think, I've managed to live a century? I'm not that stupid not to know when to run."

Fortunately the priest managed to dispel the gathering before a streak of blue light cut the sky, crashing into the ground near Mai and Rin. The light dispersed, showing a very angered inu-youkai. Sesshomaru glanced at his wife and ward, before turning his attention to the people, who had attacked the females. The sharp claws gleamed in the sunlight.

"Forgive us!" the priest reacted swiftly, bending in half, bowing. It seemed, that the old man had enough brains not to try fight Sesshomaru. "Please, spare this village! We have no hostile intentions!"

Mai rolled her eyes, thinking, that the priest surprisingly fast forgot about his plan to exorcise her. Well, it was just a misunderstanding and she didn't want her husband to murder those idiots. She grabbed the sleeve of the demon's haori in a discreet way.

"Sesshomaru, let's go. They didn't do anything to me or Rin." She whispered.

Sesshomaru looked at her over his shoulder, doubt flickering in his golden eyes.

"I smell your blood, woman." He said, before glaring at the villagers. He was eager to punish them for injuring Mai, but the woman was hanging on his arm, while trying to clutch the other sleeve. The demon jerked his arm, freeing it from his wife's grip.

"I cut myself. It was only a distress signal for you to come to get us. Let's go!" Mai insisted, gripping Sesshomaru's sleeve anew.

The priest made another series of respectful bow, nearly reaching Jaken's level in the art of groveling.

"We're sorry! We meant no harm to your woman and your child!" he kept apologizing with the intension, that the powerful demon would leave quickly.

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes at the annoying old man.

"This child is my ward." He corrected the priest, pointing at Rin. Then, feeling Mai still tugging at his haori, he snatched the both females by their waists and took off.

The priest let out a relieved breath, as the horrible danger was finally away. He leaned on his cane and sighed heavily. One of the villagers approached him and whispered.

"Shouldn't we notify the samurai of this? The Black Sun could deal easily even with the strongest youkai." The man, who appeared to be someone like the leader asked quietly.

The old priest shook his head.

"No, they could catch the woman. Maybe she is siding with the demon, but it's a sin to hurt another human being." He shared his thought on the matter. The other man furrowed his brows, confused.

"But… you said yourself, that she is a youkai as well." He muttered. The priest evoked a faint smile onto his wrinkled face.

"It seems, that I was mistaken. The demonic aura wasn't coming from her." He said quietly, the corners of his lips twisting up.

However, the village's leader didn't share the priest's compassionate nature and it was clearly visible on his face – he was scowling. Muttering a polite goodbye to the elderly, he made way home. His paces were fast, as though he was in the hurry. The door nearly flew off the doorframe, as he stormed inside his house. The woman and two infants stared at him.

"Goichi!" he called the name of his middle son, looking around with an impatient grimace on his face. Once a thirteen-years-old boy went into the room, the man grabbed his collar and lead the child to the tiny stable, which was housing an ox and a horse. "Goichi, you'll ride straight to Amari-sama and tell him, that a strong demon was seen near our village. Hurry!"

The village's leader helped his son up onto the horseback and slapped the animal's rear. The horse neighed and the boy galloped out of the village. His father was looking at the cloud of dust, left by the hooves. He smiled to himself, hoping to make get some profits. Everyone knew, that the samurai, who owned villages, offered rewards for the information of the whereabouts of the demons. As a good leader, it was his role to keep the money flowing.

.

Once Sesshomaru landed and disposed of the luggage – two human females and numerous packages, Mai had bought, he snatched his wife's wrist and lifted to his eyes. He examined the fairly deep cut with a frown on his face.

"You should cease attracting trouble." He said, releasing Mai's arm and marching to the packs on Ah-Un's back.

"It's not my fault!" the girl protested, shrugging her shoulders. "It's the trouble, who keep finding me. I can't help it."

The demon fished out clean bandages and proceeded with wrapping Mai's injured hand in them.

"Perhaps you cannot." He muttered, forcefully tying the ends of the bandage. The girl winced slightly.

"But it wasn't dangerous this time. Actually, it's a funny story. The old geezer wanted to exorcise me, because he thought, that I was a demon." She told Sesshomaru the silly story. Her husband nodded.

"That priest is an old fool. He mistook Rin for a hanyou." The inu-youkai voiced his opinion. He examined Mai's hand once again, before turning on his heel and setting off. The girl trotted after him till she was walking at his side. A little bit unsurely she reached for Sesshomaru's hand. Their fingers brushed in a brief, gentle touch, before he closed her small palm in his big hand.

Rin climbed on Ah-Un's back and was warily watching the pair, wrinkling her forehead. After being Kaede's apprentice for over a year, she knew a little bit more about adult things, maybe even a lot. Something, the priest said, kept bugging the little girl. Was it possible, that Mai…

.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

**Uff, I updated at last. Please free to nag in your comments if I'm slacking off with uploading the new chapters. And, of course, review, please!**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

.

.

Chapter 09

.

Isao closed the window, so as not to let the heavy rain inside his modest, but solid shack. He glanced over his shoulder and a fond smile appeared on his face, as he was looking at his beloved girls. The three children were squealing from joy and chasing each other around the wooden table, their long bare tails swishing behind them and nearly overturning the dishes.

"Carefully!" Isao's wife exclaimed, her laughter like silver bells. She was rocking the youngest of the girls in her arms – the infant made its very first steps just yesterday. The child let go of the rattle, but its mother swiftly snatched it with her agile tail and flashed a smile at her husband, exposing her front teeth, that were a little bit too long. Isao's lips couldn't refrain from smiling back to Shizuka, his wife.

He never regretted his sudden decision to marry this unusual woman, much to his parents' dismay, for his wife was a youkai. Not a dangerous one, as she was only a harmless mouse demon with a gentle and friendly attitude. Thankfully the villagers accepted her as the new inhabitant of the village, as well as the hanyou children.

"Girls! It's time to sleep!" Isao tried to pacify the lively children, but they fled with their inhuman speed and shook their heads, laughing and taunting their father to catch them. The man sighed heavily and decided to go along and play with the girls. "Here I come!"

KNOCK

The little girls fell silent. Isao and his wife exchanged looks, as the energetic knocking sounded again. Shizuka furrowed her brows, bringing the infant closer to her chest.

"Who could that be at such late hour?" she asked with a tint of nervousness in her voice. Isao shrugged his shoulders and gestured his family to go into another room – better not to endanger his girls.

The man hesitantly opened the door, as the knocking repeated, this time louder and more impatient. He slid the door just a little bit aside, to look, who was disturbing the peace of his family. Seeing the newcomers, he instinctively attempted to shut the door, but a foot blocked it.

"My family is poor. We have nothing valuable." Isao said quickly, assuming, that the guests were robbers. He had every right to take them as ones – the two figures were dressed in brownish torn cloaks, their faces carefully hidden beneath the hoods. The mere sight of the two screamed: suspicious.

"We are humble travelers. It is not our intention to rob you." The taller one said, putting his hand on the edge of the door, as though he wanted to open them more. Isao noticed, that the palm lacked a finger. The man reached with his other hand to the hood and took it off, exposing his face – it turned out, that he was merely an old man. "I hoped, that you could let me and my apprentice stay in your house till the rain stops."

Isao's attention turned to the other traveler. It seemed, that it was just a boy at the age of about eleven, even though he looked older and much more mature. The villager shook his head, berating himself for fearing an old man and a child.

"Come inside, we have some warm stew left." He said, opening the door wiser and ushering the guests inside. The two travelers went inside and took their water-soaked cloaks off. The sat be the fire, stretching their tired legs. Isao noticed, that the child was armed, what was strange and slightly alarming. The villager filled the bowls with his wife's stew and passed them to the hungry guests. Both the boy and the old man swallowed everything nearly at once.

Then, a ball made of rags rolled from the other room and one of the small girls run inside the main chamber, gaining the wary looks of the travelers. Isao panicked, afraid, that there could be some trouble.

"She's your child?" the boy asked, surprisingly calm, showing neither fear nor anger. "She looks a lot like you. Except the tail, of course."

Isao stiffened at the comment and wrinkled his forehead in confusion, as he expected another reaction to seeing a hanyou. Hesitantly, he nodded. The old man sighed.

"Don't be afraid, good man. We're used to the sight of youkai. You don't have to hide your family from us." He said, as Shizuka and the other girls shyly peeked from behind the door. The mouse demoness hesitantly stepped into the room and the children followed her.

A while later the atmosphere in Isao's shack became unexpectedly friendly. The travelers showed no sign of uneasiness around his youkai wife and the hanyou daughters. The old man was telling the girls stories about imaginary adventures, making both the children and adults burst in laughter. In the middle of fun, the villager saw, that the boy stood up and made his way towards the window. He opened it just a little bit and narrowed his eyes, peeking through the crevice.

"Master Sekiguchi, I think, that it's the time for us to leave." The boy said, closing the window and making sure, that the sword on his back could be drawn without any hindrance. The elderly man abruptly stopped entertaining the children and stood up, grabbing a cloak. Both of the travelers exchanged tense looks.

"Back door." The scholar muttered. The unnerving sound of hooves splashing the mud was coming from all directions. Isao motioned himself closer to his wife and daughters, ushering them to the corner of the chamber.

"In the name of the lord, open up!" a man's voice yelled, as someone kept banging on the door. Suddenly the bolted door flew inside, kicked in by a samurai. Simultaneously the soldiers got inside, using the back door, so the group found themselves surrounded. The boy named Akira narrowed his eyes, counting the opponents – four in the front, three in the back and gods know, how many outside. The situation was looking rather nasty.

The samurais, who barged in, were looking a little bit strange, as they were dressed in white, with an emblem, picturing a black sun. Neither Akira nor Sekiguchi recognized the sign, but one was sure – it wasn't a family crest of the local feudal lord or any of his vassals. The gazes of the soldiers slid from the two travelers, as though they weren't the ones, who they were after.

"The demons are going with us." The one, who looked like a leader decided, pointing at the trembling Shizuka and her daughters. Isao came forwards, shielding his family with his own body.

"Leave my wife and children alone! They never did anything wrong to humans!" he protested firmly, showing quite a courage.

However, the act of defiance didn't impress the leader in the slightest. He took a step aside, making place for a figure clad in long black robes. The person had the face covered with a veil, but it was clear, that it was a woman. The only distinctive thing about her was a sparkling stone on her chest, the black gem in the shape of the sun. She was carrying a cage, filled with buzzing insects, huge as a fist.

"All your resistance is futile." She said, her voice raspy, as though she wasn't using it frequently. She opened the cage and the insects flew out of it, right in the direction of Isao and his family.

"Run!" Akira shouted to the villagers, ripping out the sword, which was still a little too big for him. He darted towards the man and slashed a couple of insects in midair. In the meantime master Sekiguchi yanked the victims-to-be up and ushered them to crawl outside through the window. The samurais weren't watching idly, but ripped out their blades and rushed to finish the boy off. However, the element of surprise worked in Akira's favor – the soldiers weren't expecting the child to be that skillful. The boy made use of his better speed and flexibility, moving effortlessly in the small room. Without batting an eyelid, he delivered fatal blows to the two grown men. Even the old scholar managed to make himself useful in the battle – he covered the family's escape by swinging with his staff like a true berserk. Suddenly, the boy pushed Sekiguchi out of the window and dived after him, landing atop the old man. Fluently, he rolled off him, jumping to his feet, never losing the grip on the sword. He looked at Isao and his family, who were standing in place, frozen from fear.

"What are you waiting for?! Run!" Akira yelled at them in the precise moment, when the rest of the soldiers ran out of the shack. The boy snatched one of his hidden knifes and threw it at the youngster, who was watching over the horses. The blade smoothly went into his neck, cutting the artery. Master Sekiguchi ushered Isao, his wife and daughters on the horses and gave Akira a hand. The boy hopped onto the back and took one of the hanyou girls.

"Hya!" he shouted, kicking the horses sides and grabbing the reins of Shizuka's horse. The steeds galloped into the night, the sound of the hooves splashing the mud accompanied by the noise of wind and rain.

Akira was looking over his shoulder nervously, waiting for the pursuers to come. The rain was stopping, what was a bad sign, as it would get more difficult to track them. Then, his nightmares came true – he spotted riders, rather far away, but the distance would lessen, as the horses of the boy's companions were overburdened.

Then, he heard buzz right behind his ear.

"Shizuka!" Isao called his wife's name, as the mouse demoness suddenly turned her horse and rode back, straight in the hands of the enemy. The villager wanted to chase his wife, who took one of their older daughters and the baby along, but master Sekiguchi was firmly holding the reins of his horse.

"What…" Akira began, stopping his horse as well, when the girl, he was holding, punched him squarely in the nose all of a sudden and slipped off the saddle, following her mother.

"No!" Isao cried, as the another daughter was struggling with him, kicking and shouting, while the pursuers were approaching. Akira jumped off his horse and helped Isao hold the little girl down. The boy narrowed his eyes, when he noticed something weird about the child – her eyes were blank, as though she wasn't conscious, the moves were awkward. She was thrashing wildly, not listening to her father at all.

"Something is controlling her." He muttered and clenched his fingers. Without any warning, he delivered a blow in the girl's head.

"My daughter!" Isao yelled, as the girl stopped struggling and became limp, as she lost her consciousness. Akira glared at the man harshly.

"Take her into safety." He said. Isao opened his mouth, ready to protest – he didn't want to leave his wife and other daughters. However, Akira insisted, ushering the villager onto the horse. "Ride east, then turn northwards. We'll be covering your tracks."

Before spanking the horse's rear, master Sekiguchi told Isao:

"Save your daughter." The old man whacked the steed with his staff and mounted his own horse. He sighed heavily, looking at his young apprentice, who lightly jumped onto the horseback, as though he was born in the saddle. Sekiguchi shook his head. "Boy, I'm too old for such adventures. You should stop attracting danger."

Akira only laughed and kicked his steed's sides.

.

Mai snuggled closer to Sesshomaru, wrapping her spare kimono tighter around her frame, as the nights were still chilly like in winter. The dog demon put his arm around her and leaned down to kiss her fondly on the forehead, as all their companions were already asleep. The girl tugged her husband's long silver strands and forced him to bend lower. He obliged and she pressed her lips against his. They were kissing for a while. When Sesshomaru's other hand slowly wandered to Mai's thigh, the girl snatched his wrist and gave it a warning squeeze. The demon tore his lips from hers and furrowed his brows.

"Not tonight." His wife whispered. The inu-youkai frowned, showing his dissatisfaction. Mai sighed, seeing the disappointed look on his face and gently patted Sesshomaru's cheek. "I don't feel like it. Maybe tomorrow."

The dog demon's frown was slowly turning into a full-fledged scowl.

"You keep saying it for a month." He hissed out, not happy about the celibacy. "I am a man. I have my needs."

Mai narrowed her eyes at her husband, who was back with his male bullshit. She smiled at him innocently.

"Keep your needs in your pants." She retorted, earning a glare from her dear husband. Ignoring his angered look, she nested herself near him, assuming a comfortable position, what was rather difficult, considering, that Sesshomaru had his armor on.

Suddenly the demon pushed Mai away, just when she was an inch from finding a good sleeping position. The girl opened her mouth, about to question him, but didn't say anything, for she saw the inu-youkai resting his hand on Bakusaiga's hilt. Sesshomaru furrowed his brows, looking westwards.

The young woman recognized the signs of the approaching danger right away and untangled herself from the kimono, which served her as cover. Not wasting any time, she jumped onto her legs and rushed to wake Rin, Jaken and Ah-Un up.

"Hey, get up, everyone! Something's coming!" she said to the companions, poking them to wake them up. She lifted Rin, with certain effort, and laid the confused child on the dragon's back. The little girl yawned, while rubbing her half-closed eyes.

"Sesshomaru-sama… what's happening?" Rin asked in a sleepy voice. Mai glanced over her shoulder at her husband too, eager to know, what had alarmed him.

The dog demon didn't answer and kept waiting, ready to fight if necessary.

The bushes rustled and an exhausted horse jumped over the bushed, landing in the range of the campfire. The animal was swaying on its legs and finally fell to the ground, breathing heavily from the excessive strain. A man slid off the saddle, bewildered look in his eyes. He looked around, taking in the sight of the travelers. Surprisingly, he seemed to be relieved, when he saw Sesshomaru.

"You're a demon!" he exclaimed, the tears streaming down his face, as he brought the limp body of a child closer to his chest. "A demon. Thank gods. Please, help me. My daughter…"

Sesshomaru narrowed his eyes, observing the man. He did not seem to be a threat.

"You are being chased." The dog demon more stated than asked. The man eagerly nodded.

"Yes, please, I need your help. Save my family. My wife… my girls… taken." He was blabbering, his words barely making any sense. The man was looking at Sesshomaru with plea in his eyes.

However, the demon's face was expressionless and his eyes cold. The man's pleas seemed to have absolutely no effect on him.

"Leave. Your problems are not of my concern." He said harshly.

"Sesshomaru!" Mai's scolding voice instantly resounded in the camp, as the young woman straightened her back and stomped towards her husband, frowning. She glanced at the man with his unconscious daughter in his arms and glared at the dog demon. "Seriously, have you no heart?"

She huffed and approached the villager.

"What happened?" she asked the man gently, looking at his child with worry. Sesshomaru was clearly pouting at her for scolding him, but she didn't care about his antics at the moment.

The newcomer's eyes wandered from the dog demon to the human woman and back, as realization came to him – the two were behaving like a couple, so getting the girl on his side could be decisive.

"My lady!" he bowed with respect, trying to control his body's trembling. "My name's Isao. Some soldiers came to my house for my wife and daughters. We tried to escape, but something strange happened to Shizuka and girls…"

Sesshomaru furrowed his brows.

"Strange?" he asked.

"Yes." Isao nodded, taking a calming breath. "Suddenly they wanted to go to the soldiers. I don't know why, it doesn't make any sense. Please help me get my wife and daughter back! I beg you!"

Mai and Sesshomaru exchanged glances and Jaken came closer, intrigued by the story. The imp sniffed the air.

"The girl is a hanyou." He said. Isao shrugged his shoulders.

"Shizuka, my wife, is a demoness." He explained, before looking at the inu-youkai with hope glistening in his eyes, expecting help. He gasped, when the girl in his arms began stirring and moaning, slowly regaining consciousness.

"Sumiko!" he called his daughter's name, but the child began hissing and thrashing, trying to escape her father's embrace. Isao's face became grim, as he saw his child behaving like some wild animal. The man tightened his grip, not letting the kid run away.

Mai wrinkled her forehead.

"It's really strange." She muttered. Sesshomaru was also warily observing the unusual behavior of the little girl. Suddenly, the hairless tail swished and smacked Isao squarely in his face. Startled, the man let go off the child and she darted into the forest, following her mother and sisters. Her father managed to let out a cry, when a green lightning whip sprouted from the tips of Sesshomaru's fingers and cut through the trees, that stood in the way between their group and the little escapee. The whip entwined the girl's ankle and the inu-youkai jerked his arm, sending the hanyou girl flying towards him. The whip dissolved and Sesshomaru deftly caught the child in midair, holding the back of her neck, as though he was holding a puppy. Mai yelped, when she saw the characteristic green gleam, when the dog demon let the acid out of his claws. However, the child was untouched. The inu-youkai lowered the girl onto the ground.

The child looked around in confusion, as though she was surprised to be here. When her eyes met her father, she darted towards him, closing her little arms around his waist.

"Daddy!" she exclaimed and began sobbing. Isao fell to his knees and started crying too, holding his beloved daughter close.

Mai looked at her husband, not knowing, what had just happened. Seeing her staring at him, Sesshomaru offer her an explanation.

"It was a parasite. Yadori Sanagi. It controlled the child's behavior." He said, deep in thought. The inu-youkai was considering Isao's words. "It seems, that it is linked with the soldiers, who took this human's family."

Mai and Jaken came closer. The imp scratched his chin, his eyes never leaving the hanyou girl.

"It could explain, why my kin didn't put up much of a fight. Once those things attach themselves to weak youkai or hanyous, the free will vanishes." He shared his suspicion. Mai nodded, agreeing with the direction of his thoughts.

"Something else worries me." She said quietly. "Isao said, that the soldiers came for his family. So… humans are behind this?

Sesshomaru put his hand on the Bakusaiga's hilt.

"There is one way to find out." He said and turned to his servant. "The human and his child stay. Jaken, keep distance from me."

With that words he leapt into the air, following the scent. Mai and Jaken ran to Ah-Un and once they climbed on its back, they went after the dog demon, leaving Isao and his daughter behind.

.

.

**Author Note:**

**Ha! This time I wasn't slacking with the update. Your comments motivated me to be quicker this time.**

**.**

**Please review. There are two chapters left.**


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

.

.

Chapter 10

.

Akira and master Sekiguchi hurried the horses, making the animals pass the limit of their stamina. The hooves were making the ground tremble, as a large group of samurai was chasing the escapees. Unfortunately the enemy was catching up, despite the Akira's desperate attempts to elude capture. It seemed, that the plan of acting as a bait worked too well.

The boy yelped, when his steed neighed and suddenly fell to the ground. Sekiguchi's horse did the same – the arrows were sticking out of the animals' bodies.

"Damn." The boy cursed and, along with his elderly companion, they continued escaping on feet. But, master Sekiguchi wasn't able to keep up the pace. He leant on his staff heavily, his face distorted by a grimace of pain. Akira's gaze traveled lower and he saw the reason of the scholar's pain – an arrow was sticking out of his thigh, making the escape more difficult, if not impossible. Nevertheless, the boy was reluctant to leave the old man behind. He grabbed him by his waist, supporting the weight of his body.

"Come on, master Sekiguchi." Akira said through the clenched teeth, dragging the scholar along. The boy glanced over his shoulder again and winced, as the enemy were closer and closer. The sound of the hooves was getting louder with each passing second. It appeared, that their fate had been already decided, when unexpected rescue came.

The dozen of samurai slowed down a bit, as a figure clad in white descended from the sky, gracefully landing on the ground between Akira and the pursuers. The soldiers yelled, encouraging themselves and unsheathed their swords, charging at the newcomer. The rescuer outstretched his hand calmly and then moved it fast, a whip of green light appearing. The whip slashed the samurais cleanly in half, without effort penetrating their armors and spines. Akira gasped, seeing the massacre – the corpses scattered onto the ground, the guts spilling from them and filling the air with the stench of death and the demon in the middle of it. The boy saw only his back, but the figure was strangely familiar. Then the youkai turned around.

"Oh, the brat." He stated, looking at Akira. The boy stared back at the demon with his mouth opened agape. The man was indeed familiar, even though the kid never had seen him with his youkai powers or in the usual clothing.

"Teacher?" Akira coughed out, not expecting to see Sesshomaru so quickly. The dog demon arched his eyebrow, clearly amused by the boy's reaction.

"Have you been training daily?" he asked sternly.

Akira nodded eagerly, suddenly feeling like a little kid.

"Yes! Every day." He confirmed, as his eyes began glowing with happiness, for he had the chance to meet his mentor again.

In the meantime the two-headed dragon caught up to his master and made a circle over the place of massacre, lowering the flight. Ah-Un managed to land smoothly right next to Sesshomaru and Mai slid off the saddle, trying not to look directly at the slaughtered samurais. She covered her nose with the hem of her sleeve, as the odor of blood made her feel nauseous.

Even though the circumstances were kind of dreadful, she smiled widely, seeing her friends. What a coincidence to run into Akira and master Sekiguchi! After a year the boy looked more mature and tough, nothing like a brat, he had been before. The old scholar had changed as well. With the worn cloak on, the staff and the longer tangled beard he looked a lot like Gandalf, there was only a characteristic hat missing.

"Akira, master Sekiguchi!" she exclaimed happily, coming closer to the two. She narrowed her eyes, examining the boy carefully – now he was just as tall as she was, despite that he was still an eleven-year old child. With an oversized sword on his back and the travelling clothes he looked more like a young ranger than a spoilt daimyo's son. Mai smiled to herself, seeing, that the boy turned out to be quite a fine youngster. She glanced at her husband.

"He's less bratty, isn't he?" she commented the change in Akira.

Sesshomaru maintained his poker face.

"Perhaps." He said with disinterest, but Mai could recognize, that he was swelling with pride – no wonder, for his very first trainee made much progress. Surely it was a source of happiness for the teacher.

Then the girl remembered the purpose of their group coming here – they were supposed to follow Isao's kidnapped wife and kids, so as to find their captor. She glanced at the slashed bodied and glared at her husband in a scolding way.

"Sesshomaru! You should think first, kill later!" she snapped at him. "Now that you've killed everyone off, we can't question them anymore!"

The dog demon glared back at her, displeased, that she dared to scold him in front of others.

"Be silent, woman." He hissed out, but his wife wasn't the easiest one to silence. She huffed and rested her hands on her hips.

"How, according to you, will be find out, what happened to Isao's family?" she questioned Sesshomaru. "Congratulation, _dear_. You've just ruined the chance to learn something useful at last."

"Hn." The dog demon turned his head away, as the vein on his neck began pulsing.

Master Sekiguchi and Akira, who were observing the marital spat, were looking rather uneasy. The old scholar furrowed his brows and combed the beard with his fingers.

"Isao's family?" he repeated, immediately gaining Mai's and Sesshomaru's undivided attention. "We were helping him and his family escape from those samurai. Sadly, only he and one of his daughters managed to get away. His youkai wife and the other children began behaving strangely. Short after that they ran straight in enemy's hands."

"It was Yadori Sanagi, that affected the demoness and the hanyou offspring." The inu-youkai said.

Seeing the confused looks on Akira's and Sekiguchi's faces, Mai hurried to explain.

"Bugs, parasite bugs. They can control the weak demons and half-demons." She said.

"I see. That's why the humans were unaffected by it." The old scholar muttered, scratching his chin. He winced, when he moved his leg a little, as the arrow was still stuck in his thigh. However, he clenched his teeth and decided to bear the pain. "Anyway, the soldiers went after me and Akira, but the woman, who set those insects free wasn't with them."

Sesshomaru knitted his eyebrows.

"What woman?" he demanded. Master Sekiguchi leant heavier on his staff.

"I suspect, that she was the leader. She was clad in black from heads to toes, there was creepy air around her. I suspect, that Isao's wife and children came to her."

Mai felt a shiver go down her spine at the mention of a scary person. It was disturbing, but finally they had a clue, what was happening with the missing demons.

"So… we just have to get that woman in black." She was thinking aloud, happy, that it turned out to be easy. Now they would be able to go home.

"Hn." Sesshomaru folded his arms. "This Sesshomaru will track her down in no time."

Mai rolled her eyes at the confidence and usual arrogance of her husband. Master Sekiguchi sent the dog demon a warning look.

"Be careful, she has those insects with her." He reminded, worry all over his face.

However, Sesshomaru flipped the scholar's concern off, turning around and readying himself to continue the pursuit.

"Do not be foolish." He retorted dryly. "Yadori Sanagi will not affect such a powerful youkai as myself. A human should…"

Suddenly Sesshomaru paused in midsentence, as he felt a sting on his nape. He wanted to get rid of its source, but he felt a strange numbness beginning to spread throughout his body.

Mai and the others looked at him with expectation, waiting for him to finish, what he had to say. But, the dog demon wasn't saying anything for a while. He furrowed his brows and reached with his hand to the neck, but the arm stopped in midair, as though he couldn't move it further. The grimace on his face deepened, as the seconds of silence were dragging on.

"Sesshomaru, is there something wrong?" Mai asked, seeing her husband's strange behavior.

This time he didn't say anything as well. He was just standing in place, looking as though he was paralyzed. There was emotion in his eyes – anger, some confusion and will to fight, but the face was getting expressionless like a mask. Mai took a step closer, now knowing for sure, that there was something wrong. Never she had seen Sesshomaru act like this. She put her hand on his arm in a calming gesture, worry all over her face.

"Sesshomaru!" she called his name, urging him to say something, but he didn't react. Then, all the remaining emotion faded away from his eyes, leaving them cold and blank. Mai gasped, seeing the change. The dog demon looked, like he wasn't himself at the moment. She panicked, having all the worst suspicions. She squeezed his arm tighter, wanting to get his attention. "Sesshomaru! What's happening?!"

Finally her shouting had an effect – the inu-youkai gazed down at her. The girl felt a shiver go down her spine, when she saw the expression in his eyes – it weren't the eyes of the Taiyoukai, who was her husband. Not anymore. They were the eyes of a wild, mindless beast. Mai felt an urge to back away from Sesshomaru and used all her willpower not to run. She was still clutching his arm.

The others were observing the situation with growing nervousness. Akira and master Sekiguchi kept their distance. Rin tried to slip of the Ah-Un's saddle, but Jaken firmly gripped the girl and shushed her, eying Sesshomaru with worry.

"Sesshomaru! Snap out of it!" Mai nearly yelled at the dog demon, overcoming the fear, she just felt.

The inu-youkai bared his teeth in response, flashing with his long sharp fangs, as he began emitting a low growl – definitely a warning. The girl furrowed her brows, thinking quickly. What could be the reason of Sesshomaru's abnormal behavior? Given the circumstances, the first and most logical thing to assume would be the influence of Yadori Sanagi, even though the parasite shouldn't affect such powerful youkai as him. Mai had to check it at least. Still holding Sesshomaru's arm with one hand, she reached to his nape, wanting to get rid of Yadori Sanagi, if there was one.

All of a sudden, the dog demon snatched her hand, before she managed to check for the parasite. The girl winced, for the grip was terribly strong. She felt as though her bones were just being crushed by Sesshomaru's hand.

"Stop!" she breathed out, but her husband wasn't himself. He brutally yanked her off, pushing her back. Mai flew backwards and landed on Akira, knocking him down. Both of them fell to the ground, the boy amortizing the girl's fall.

"Sesshomaru-sama!" Rin called and tried to get to her guardian, but Jaken acted with cool head and gripped the back of her obi tightly.

"Stay here, Rin-chan." He told the little girl, narrowing his eyes at his master. "It's better not to go close to Sesshomaru-sama now."

Despite what the imp said, Mai crawled off Akira and stood up, her body slightly aching and her wrist pulsing with pain. The dog demon looked like he was readying himself to take off, so the girl didn't waste time. She darted towards him as fast as she could and reached out with her hand, wanting to grab the edge of his armor to stop him. Her fingers only brushed against his silver strands, when Sesshomaru gave out a furious growl and quickly whirled around. When he was doing it, Mai saw the characteristic green gleam coming out of his fingers. Her eyes widened, when she realized, that he wanted to melt her with his acid.

The dog demon was about to strike, when a stone was thrown in his direction, heading right between his eyes.

"Mai, run!" the girl heard Akira's voice. Sesshomaru caught the stone in midair, closing his hand around it and melting it with his poisonous claws. This gave Mai enough time to escape. She ducked under the inu-youkai's shoulder and darted towards Rin and Jaken.

"Everyone, back away from him!" Master Sekiguchi called, limping away from Sesshomaru. The rest of the group followed him, cautiously backing away, as the dog demon was glaring at them. When he decided, that they didn't want to stop him, he leapt into air and flew in the direction of Isao's village. When he was taking off, his long silver hair got blown off a little, exposing a Yadori Sanagi attached to the back of his neck.

After the inu-youkai left, no one of the group commented it. Mai was panting heavily, still in shock, that her husband tried to kill her. Again. Damn, she hoped, that it wouldn't become a habit of his. Nevertheless that bug made Sesshomaru attack her and fly off somewhere.

"You must be freaking kidding me." She breathed out, shaking her head in disbelief. "Someone just kidnapped my husband."

Judging from the blank facial expression of the rest of the group, they shared Mai's thought. Rin shifted on Ah-Un's back uneasily.

"What now?" the child asked the question, everyone had in mind. Usually, Sesshomaru was the one, who came with rescue. Now the roles had reversed and the demon was the one, who needed to be saved. The companions began exchanging uneasy glances.

"The parasite controls him now." Master Sekiguchi said, tugging his beard. "He must have gone, where Isao's family is."

Akira furrowed his brows.

"And probably the woman in black is there too, the one, who controls the bugs." The boy added.

Mai bit her lower lip. The things were happening so fast… Yet, Sesshomaru had to be saved quickly, before something happened to him. She was seriously worried about his well-being. What would happen to him? Would the kidnappers want to kill him? Where was he heading? She shook her head, chasing the grim thoughts away. She had to be strong for him and do everything to get him back, safe and sound. It wasn't the time to sit around and weep, but to act. Mai straightened her back, as she decided to take the lead. The girl looked at her companions – a dragon, an imp, two children and an old injured man. Oh, and a woman, who can't manage to march all day. All in all, it was a pretty weak team.

"We need reinforcements." She decided, massaging her aching wrist. She looked at the arrow, which was stuck in the scholar's leg. Then she gazed at Ah-Un's passengers. "Rin, you'll fly on Ah-Un to our village and you'll get Inuyasha to come here. Tell him, that's it's really urgent."

"Yes!" Rin exclaimed, nodding and taking a hold of the reins. Mai smiled to her encouragingly and turned to the scholar.

"Master Sekiguchi, you'll go with Rin. You'll get your leg taken care of at the village." Commanded and the elderly man made his way towards the dragon, little hesitant though. He bowed his head slightly, greeting Rin and Jaken. The little girl flashed a friendly smile at the scholar.

The imp narrowed his eyes at Mai, looking at the girl with suspicion.

"You're planning to go after Sesshomaru-sama, aren't you?" he stated.

The girl didn't answer him, as she had thought, that it was obvious, that she wouldn't leave her husband.

"I have no choice." Jaken sighed heavily, sliding of the two-headed dragon's back and approaching Mai. He looked up and smiled. "I have no choice but to help you."

The girl returned the smile, feeling a little bit encouraged. She already saw in Akira's eyes, that the boy was eager to aid her, not Jaken declared this. She was confident, that in one way or another she would manage to free Sesshomaru from the mysterious enemy. She turned to Rin.

"Go now, Rin!" she called to the little girl. The child nodded solemnly.

"Let's go, Ah-Un!" she exclaimed and the beast leapt into the sky, carrying the kid and the elderly scholar on his back.

When the three of them were left, Jaken sighed, leaning on Nintoujou. He glanced at Mai. Akira did the same.

"So what's the plan?" he asked their temporary leader.

"I haven't got one yet." The girl answered. "But somehow we'll get Sesshomaru back."

.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

**You evil reviewers ;-) When I saw how quickly you commented, I couldn't deprive you of this chapter. You're awesome!**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha.

.

.

Chapter 11

.

Mai bent in half, resting her hands on her knees and panting heavily. She struggled to catch a breath, as she was feeling completely drained out of energy already. Akira was leading the way towards Isao's village and he set quite a harsh pace. The three of them were running for a couple of minutes, but now the girl reached her limit and had no strength to go on. Jaken looked at her with worry.

"Mai, are you feeling sick again?" the imp asked with concern, as even he wasn't tired yet and Mai looked like she was going to die from strain.

The girl shook her head, angry at herself, that her stamina was so low.

"Just tired." She answered, straightening her back and beginning to march, as she couldn't run anymore. She knitted her eyebrows and clenched her fists. Sesshomaru could die, if they wouldn't get to him on time! If only she wasn't that weak… Actually, Mai had no clue what was wrong with her – they had been travelling for almost three months now, so she should have been able to regain some of her stamina, but it was getting worse instead of better. Perhaps she should visit Kaede once she got her husband back.

"Come on, Mai!" Akira called to her, as he lightly run forward. The boys movements were light, like those of a cat's – apparently he took his training very seriously. The girl took a deep breath, filling her lungs with as much oxygen as possible and followed young Maeda with Jaken running at her side.

When the wooden huts of the village were in the range of sight, Akira made a gesture to stop. Jaken braked and Mai leant heavily against a tree, her eyes closed. Her lungs felt like on fire because of the exhausting jogging. Young Maeda narrowed his eyes, observing the villages whereabouts.

"It seems, that the soldiers are no longer there." He muttered. Mai and Jaken exchanged worried glances. The girl felt, as though her heart stopped. Akira bit his lower lip. "You two wait here. I'll go to the village and ask."

The boy jumped out of the bushes and ran to the village, as though he wasn't tired at all. The girl and the imp were watching him.

"That kid's dependable?" Jaken asked, seating himself on the ground.

"I guess so." Mai muttered, joining Jaken and stretching her aching legs. "Hey, Jaken, how come Sesshomaru got brainwashed?"

The imp looked at her, wrinkling his forehead. He scratched his chin, apparently confused like her.

"No idea." He replied at last, shrugging his shoulders. "I understand, that Yadori Sanagi took control over a weak mouse hanyou, but Sesshomaru-sama shouldn't be affected… Those parasites are weird."

Mai sighed. The whole situation was disturbing – her husband brainwashed and kidnapped, weird insects and a mysterious woman in black. She had a really bad feeling about this. Damn, if only Sesshomaru was here, it wouldn't be so scary…

After long minutes of sitting hidden in the bushes at the edge of the forest, the girl saw Akira returning. The boy was riding a horse, he must have gotten in a village, while leading another one. Mai and Jaken stood up to meet the young Maeda. The girl felt, that retrieving Sesshomaru wouldn't be easy.

"Where is he?" she asked.

Akira lit his lower lip, looking uneasy – a sign, that he didn't bring good news.

"The samurai and the woman in black are no longer in the village. The villagers said, that they rode north, taking the demons with them." The boy reported. Then, he looked Mai in the eye. "Teacher is with them. I believe, that they will head to Fuefuki, the capital of this province. I know a shortcut, so we could catch up with them and catch them in the city."

Mai nodded, not having any better idea anyway.

"Okay, lead the way." She replied, climbing onto the spare horse and helping Jaken up. Akira waited for the two to sit firmly on the saddle and then her kicked his horse's sides. Mai yelped, when her steed followed the boy's, galloping at great speed. She clutched the reins tighter and held herself on the horseback with the help of her knees. Jaken held the back of her kimono in a steel grip of his small green hands, praying not to fall off.

The ride was quite a challenge. The girl's riding skills weren't the best and Akira chose a path through the wild. Mai had to nearly entwine the hose with her legs to stay on its back, as the animal kept jumping over the numerous obstacles, like fallen trees or brooks. She wanted to close her eyes, when the two horses were making a slalom between trees.

"Ouch!" Jaken whimpered, when Mai ducked, when riding under the low-hanging branches. But, the imp didn't make it on time and he got hit squarely in his forehead. The imp felt a large bump developing on his head.

Akira glanced over his shoulder, checking if the others were still after him and hurried his horse, when they rode onto a meadow. He wanted to get use of the open space and cover as much distance as possible. The steed neighed and darted forward like an arrow. Mai's and Jaken's horse had no intention of staying behind and began racing with the other animal. The girl clenched her teeth, thinking, that the inside of her thighs would be a bloody pulp after the crazy chase.

"Akira, slow down!" Mai shouted, but the boy apparently didn't hear her. She desperately gripped the saddle, as the horse was out of her control anyway. They rode up the hill and the girl saw a blurry image of buildings before them. She yelped, when the horses picked up more speed, while galloping down the hill. She shut her eyes close, thinking, that it was just like a rollercoaster ride. She never liked those.

"Mai!" Jaken tugged her kimono. The girl opened her eyes and saw Akira slowing down. She felt relief, grabbed the reins and pulled them, stopping the steed. The horse neighed and slew down. The girl was breathing heavily, happy that the crazy ride was over. Akira turned his horse, so that the two steeds were side by side.

"It's the capital of Kai province, Fuefuki." The boy said, pointing the buildings, that were not so far away anymore. Mai looked ahead. The town was looking pretty much like a mix between Kanazawa and the capital of Echizen – there was a stronghold in the central point, which was surrounded by workshops, houses, markets, that were enclosed by a city wall. Beyond the guarded walls were rice paddies, farmer's huts and the places, where the poorest led their miserable existence.

Once their group reached a small tree coppice, Akira dismounted, jumping off the horse lightly. Jaken tried to do the same, but ended up falling on his butt. Mai carefully slid off the saddle, feeling, that her legs were wobbly like a jelly. She lifted her hand to her mouth, feeling queasy.

Akira nearly rolled his eyes, seeing his two companions pale. He narrowed his eyes at Jaken.

"I think, that it would be better if you stayed here with the horses, mister demon." The boy said, passing Jaken the reins. "Those people could catch you too."

The imp opened his mouth to protest, but Mai aided Akira.

"Akira's right. The bugs could attach themselves to you too." She said, sealing Jaken's fate. Then, she turned to young Maeda. "I hope, that Sesshomaru will be there."

The boy nodded, sharing her worry and the two of them made their way towards Kai's capital, leaving the imp behind. Mai quickly got herself a cloak to cover her fine silk kimono, not wanting to get any unnecessary attention. The crowd near the front gate was big and the guards weren't questioning newcomers, so getting in the city was no problem at all.

"I think, that he should ask at the market." Mai suggested, as the market was usually the place, where people gathered to gossip. If anyone heard of youkai in the city, that would be the best place to gather information.

"It's a good idea." Akira agreed.

On their way Mai was looking warily around, searching for any alarming signs. Unfortunately there were none. Everything looked all right – the people were lively, minding their own business, as though nothing suspicious was going on. The bustling was getting louder near the market, which was filled with people. It seemed to be an everyday market crowd, but Mai noticed, that something was different. The people were talking among themselves, but seemed to be focused on something. Akira noticed that too. The girl and the young Maeda exchanged glances.

"Excuse me," Mai gripped the hem of some woman's sleeve. "What's going on?"

The woman send her a surprised look.

"You don't know?" she began to wonder. Then, she giggled. "You must be new in Fuefuki then."

"Mhm." Mai muttered an agreement, gesturing the woman to continue. She straightened the wrinkles on her kimono, not hurrying to answer.

"Lord Takeda is offering money to everyone, who knows, where youkai are. A silver coin for any information and even up to five golden ones, if the information is accurate and they'll catch the demon." She explained, looking at Mai, as though she was talking to a child.

The girl furrowed her brows.

"Who catches youkai?" she inquired. The woman shrugged her shoulders.

"A bunch of people, who came to our lord one day. I think, that they call themselves Black Moon or Black Sun, I don't know…" she was playing with her lock. Then she gasped, remembering something. "I've got to go!"

When the woman ran off, Mai and Akira leaned towards each other, whispering.

"It's Black Sun. I've seen such emblem on their clothes." The boy whispered, glancing sideways, checking if no one was listening.

"So they have the daimyos pinpoint the location of the youkai for them." Mai was thinking aloud. "Using people's greed, how low…"

The girl craned her neck and looked around, searching for any sign of the mysterious group called Black Sun. Of course they weren't showing just like that. If they got the daimyo collaborate with them, the most probable place, where they could be, would be…

"The castle." She muttered. "They must be in the castle."

Akira sent a doubtful glance at the stronghold, towering over the city. The castle of Takeda Clan was impressive and probably heavily guarded too. The soldiers at the entrance were letting only a few people pass.

"We won't get there even if we were shinobi." The boy sighed. He looked at Mai and confusion covered his face, as the girl began dragging him towards the building, the determined gleam in her eyes.

"Akira, you know of the current political situation?" she asked. The boy nodded.

"Master Sekiguchi is always up-to-date." He said, meaning it as a yes.

"Tell me, how's the things going on between Kai and Echizen." Mai demanded, the look on her face indicated, that she had an idea in her mind. The boy wrinkled his forehead, thinking.

"If I remember well, they're neutral." He said unsurely.

"Not in state of war? You're absolutely sure?" the girl kept asking.

"I'm sure." Akira answered. He looked at his companion. "Mai, what are you planning?"

The girl smirked.

"We're going to walk through the main gate." She announced, dragging young Maeda right to the guards. The boy gawked at her and swiftly covered his face with the hair, not wanting to be recognized as the banished heir of Kaga province. Mai, on the other hand, got rid of the cloak and readjusted her disheveled kimono. She straightened her back, mentally encouraging herself. She quickly reviewed in her mind, which clan was supposed to rule Kai province now – she remembered, that it should be Takeda family.

She marched straight to the main gate, leaving young Maeda a couple of steps behind. The guards blocked the entrance with the long spears, glaring at the girl warningly. However, Mai returned the look, doing her best to behave high-and-mighty.

"Tell your lord Takeda, that the heiress of Echizen has come to discuss urgent matters." She said before the soldiers managed to ask a question. The two men exchanged glances, looking amused.

"Heiress of Echizen? You?" one of the guards snorted, scanning Mai up and down – after all she was a short woman and her clothing looked very non-regal right now, after the crazy ride to Fuefuki. But, the reaction of the soldier didn't make the girl loose cold blood.

"What is your name?" she asked the soldier calmly. The man leaned on his spear, eying Mai, as though she was some harlot, who was hitting on him.

"Shino Ginjiro." He gave her his name, smirking, as though he was expecting something a massage with a happy ending from her.

"I'll remember it." Mai said solemnly to him. "I shall have lord Takeda add it to his execution list. Now, get someone, who knows my face. I am in a hurry."

The smirks fell from the soldiers faces, as a suspicion began sprouting in them – judging by the unsure looks on their faces, they weren't so certain, that the girl wasn't the princess. Mai glared at them with irritation, mimicking Sesshomaru, when he was exceptionally impatient. For a longer while the soldiers weren't answering and gawked at her, estimating the chances for the girl to tell them the truth.

"Ginjiro, call Toramasa-sama." One of the soldiers said to his companion, eying Mai suspiciously. Ginjiro seemed to be a bit reluctant, but nodded and hurried to get the man, his friend mentioned.

When the soldier left, Mai did her best to keep up the front of royal princess, of course with exception of being frail and demure. She was beginning to get nervous – she suspected, that lord Takeda harbored the demon-kidnappers and most probably their victims too. Even if they let her in, wouldn't it be too dangerous for her? After all, she was the youkai's wife. It would be a miracle if she wouldn't be captured. Even so, she had to give it a try.

"What is it about?" The girl heard an annoyed voice. She craned her neck and noticed the newcomer – it was a fatty in his fifties, the fancy robes indicated noble blood. She exhaled discreetly, preparing herself for a spy action. She looked at him, but waited for the man to make his first move.

When the one, who was called Toramasa-sama, set his gaze on Mai, he let out a gasp. The girl stiffened – she had been definitely recognized. The bad thing was, that she had absolutely no idea, who the man was.

"Amayami!" Toramasa exclaimed, making the two guards exchange panicked glances. The fat man quickly closed the distance between himself and the girl, his huge belly quivering like jelly. He smiled widely, tears appearing in his eyes. "Look at you! Only four years passed and you've became such a fine woman!"

Mai smiled nervously, when the man grabbed her shoulders, as though he wanted to close her in a bear-hug. She delicately pushed him away, twisting the corners of her lips up, faking happiness.

"You look so… healthy!" she returned politeness, wondering, who the man was to Amayami. Whoever he was, he was well-nourished. She shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, feeling like a child on Santa's lap. She had to be careful not to make an blunder. She bit her lower lip. "I need to speak to you in private."

Toramasa furrowed his brows, feeling disturbed by the seriousness in her voice. He nodded and led her inside the castle. Akira hung his head and went after them. Mai followed the fat man, as they were strolling through long corridors of Takeda's castle. When she found herself in a chamber, which seemed to belong to Toramasa's private quarters, she and Akira sat by the table and their host seated himself in front of them.

The man sighed, his jovial face suddenly becoming grim.

"I didn't expect my sister's daughter to show up in Kai all of a sudden. Especially, that there are rumors, that you eloped with a youkai lover." Toramasa said. Mai didn't answer him right away, but the blush on her face betrayed her. The man, who was supposedly an uncle of princess Amayami, smacked his forehead, groaning with dismay. "Amayami, this man is a demon?"

Mai shrugged her shoulders, already used to such kind of reactions.

"He's a very powerful youkai. And we're married." The girl explained.

Dear gods!" the man exclaimed, looking at her, as though he thought of her as of some loony. "Married to a demon?! I thought, that you ran off with some fisherman and the rumor grew bigger, but something like that… you used to be such an obedient girl… If you were my daughter, I would fling you over my knee and smack you."

Mai rolled her eyes. Seeing the disapproval on her fake uncle's face, she decided that it was best not to let him complain further and it was the high time to get to the point. She cleared her throat. "The thing is, I'm looking for people calling themselves Black Sun. I've heard, that they're in this castle."

Toramasa glanced sideways nervously, as though expecting someone to eavesdrop. He lifted his finger to his mouth, gesturing to keep the conversation quiet. He leaned over the table.

"Girl, it's not safe for you here. The Black Sun came here a few month ago and offered lord Takeda mountains of gold in exchange for help with hunting demons. Takeda trusts them entirely and if he finds out, that a youkai's spouse is here…" Toramasa shook his head. "I advise you to leave the castle before the news of your arrival spreads. Go to your husband and get as far from Kai province as possible. I'm telling this you as your uncle."

Mai furrowed her eyebrows, as the information of the Black Sun's whereabouts had been confirmed.

"Where they keep the demons?" she asked.

Toramasa sighed heavily.

"Amayami, please, leave before it's too late!" he insisted, but the girl was stubborn from nature and was desperate to get her husband back.

"The demons, who are being held captive, where are they?" she repeated calmly. The fake uncle shot a nervous look on the door.

"They are in the castle's dungeons, locked and guarded by the Black Sun and Takeda's retainers. Amayami, don't get involved in this, there will be only trouble. Now get out of there!" Toramasa hurried her.

The girl stayed in the same position as before, wanting to ask the man for help. She was opening her mouth to ask the last question, when the door to the chamber suddenly opened. Mai quickly turned her head to see, what was happening. A group of samurai stormed inside, making place for someone more important.

"Welcome in my castle, Amayami-hime."

.

.

.

**Author's Note:**

It's the end, all I've got. Sorry for the abrupt end, guys. Thank you for reading and all the wonderful reviews you wrote.

Check out my new fanfiction** "Albus Potter and the Scepter of the Fallen."** I'm trading virtual hugs and cupcakes for reviews. ;-)**  
**


End file.
